Cold Cruel World
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Piper followed Chris and Bianca through the portal in 'Chris Crossed'. How will she handle this cold future and what son seems to have become? Will she and Chris be able to get back to the past in one piece and what secrets will be revealed before and after they do?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of its characters. **

**Cold Cruel World**

**A/N: This chapter contains dialog from the Charmed episode 'Chris Crossed'.**

Chris looked on as his fiancé held his mother at knife point. He was truly afraid for his mother's life right now. Before now he would've said that there was no way Bianca would hurt her, but he just didn't know anymore. He had to find a way to stop her. "Bianca, don't. Let her go and I promise I'll go with you."

"Chris what are you doing?" Paige asked. He wasn't seriously considering going with this crazy woman, was he?"

"If you kill her, there won't be a future either one of us to go back to and you know it," Chris said.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe asked confused.

Piper was wondering the same thing. Why would Chris' future hang on her survival? Did she save him or something in the future?

"You'll see if you live long enough," Bianca said before finally letting Piper go and going over to Chris.

"Piper, freeze them!" Paige said urgently.

Piper did, but neither Chris nor Bianca froze. "Ah, okay, I get why she didn't freeze, but why didn't he freeze?"

Phoebe began to figure it out. "Unless he's a...a..."

"I'm a witch too? That's right. Part witch, part Whitelighter. Just like you," Paige," Chris said. He figured there was no point denying it now. He'd only done it to begin with because he needed them to trust him. Now that he was going back to the future, it didn't matter.

"You lied to us?" Paige asked accusingly.

"I had to. It was the only way I could get you to trust me," Chris defended.

"Trust you?" Phoebe asked as though the idea were ridiculous.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway," Chris said.

"So that's it, you're just gonna leave?" Piper asked. She didn't understand much of what was going on, but Chris had come back for a reason. She found it hard to believe that he'd just leave like this without a fight.

"I don't have a choice. She stripped my powers. It looks like Leo's gonna have to fix that floorboard without me," Chris said in hopes that they'd figure out the message. There still might be a chance of him getting back if they could send him a spell or something.

After a minute, Chris turned back to Bianca. "Let's go."

Piper watched as Chris and Bianca headed towards the portal. She couldn't let this happened. She could not let Chris leave like this. There were so many questions she had, mostly involving her son. She couldn't just let Chris go and pray that whatever happened to Wyatt in the future didn't happen this time.

Piper made a split second decision and dove for the Portal.

"Piper, no!" Phoebe yelled. But it was too later. Piper was swallowed up through the portal along with Chris and Bianca.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Chris and Bianca stepped through the portal to the future and were met with about five demons separating them from Wyatt. Before anyone could react though, Piper came crashing through the portal on top of Chris and Bianca.

"What the hell?" Bianca asked as she started to get up.

Wyatt pushed through his guards to get closer. "What is this? You weren't supposed to bring other passengers."

"She must have jumped through the portal," Bianca said.

Piper got up and then helped Chris to his feet. She then got into fighting stance. She didn't know any of these people, but she was pretty sure they were evil.

"Piper, what the hell were you thinking coming back here?" Chris asked angrily. This was just great. Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, his mother decided to hitch a ride to the future.

"I came to save your ass. You're welcome by the way," Piper said.

"What you did was make things a hundred times worse!" Chris said irritably. He then looked over to see Wyatt and his demons staring at them.

"Oh, please, don't let me interrupt," Wyatt said dryly.

"Who are you?" Piper asked.

Wyatt brought his hand to his chest in fake hurt. "That really hurts. You always said you would recognize your kids anywhere."

Piper's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Wyatt?"

"In the flesh," Wyatt said smirking.

Piper shook her head in disbelief. This couldn't be Wyatt. It couldn't be her sweet little boy. This man was pure evil. It was written all over him. There was no way her innocent baby could become this. "No, you're lying. My son is not evil!"

"I sense the speech coming," Chris muttered. This when Wyatt always started his spiel on good versus evil.

"There is no good and evil mother. There is simply power. I have it and I make sure everyone knows it," Wyatt said.

"And kill everyone that doesn't agree with how you use it," Chris added.

Wyatt walked over to Chis. "You. Of all the people to betray me."

"I didn't go back to betray you, Wyatt. I went back to save you," Chris said.

"Save me? From what?" Wyatt asked as though the idea was ridiculous.

"From whatever evil it was that turned you," Chris replied.

Piper glared at her whitelighter. "What the hell, Chris? You didn't tell us that!"

"Would you have believed me? He's standing right in front of you and you still don't fully believe it. It was better that you didn't know," Chris said.

"What else doesn't she know, Chris?" Wyatt asked with a smirk.

Chris narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Don't."

"Don't what? Now what are you trying to keep from me?" Piper demanded to know. She was really sick of the secrets. That was a big part of the reason she'd jumped the portal in the first place. She wanted answers.

"Oh, I'd venture a guess that he's keeping quite a bit from you. But that'll have to keep for now. Guards, take her to a cell," Wyatt ordered.

Piper went to blow up the two demons that approached her, but nothing happened. "Okay, why isn't it working?"

"Don't fight, Piper. It'll only make things worse, believe me," Chris said from personal experience.

Given that her powers weren't working, Piper had no choice but to take Chris' advice and let the two demons drag her away.


	2. Chapter 2

_Year 2004_

"What do you mean she jumped through the portal?" asked a horrified Leo. Phoebe and Paige had just gotten back and filled him in on everything.

"I think it's pretty self-explanatory, Leo. Piper followed Chris and Bianca through the portal to the future," Paige said.

"Well, why didn't you stop her?" Leo asked distressed. He knew it wasn't really their fault, but the woman he loved was trapped in a future that could be complete chaos for all he knew.

"Oh, right, why didn't we think of that? Oh, wait, we did!" Paige exclaimed sarcastically.

"Okay, both of you stop. This isn't helping anything. We have got to find a way to bring Piper and Chris home," Phoebe said.

"Well, technically Chris is home, but I see your point. We need to get them back. God only know what kind of future they're in right now. It can't be a great one if Chris came all the way back here to change it," Paige said.

"We have to get to the future. If Bianca can do it so can we," Phoebe said.

"But we don't know how she did it. I mean, obviously she used a spell, but we don't know which one. For all we know the spell is in the future, which means the only two people that know it are and Chris and both of them are unreachable," Paige said.

"Well then we write our own," Phoebe said.

"It's not that simple," Leo said. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to right a time travel spell, and for good reason. Time travel isn't something that should be taken lightly," Leo said seriously. Despite how much he hated it when Chris spouted the phrase 'future consequences', he wasn't exactly wrong. Changing the future was a dangerous game and it usually ended badly.

"Well, we don't have a choice here, Leo. We can't leave Piper in the future," Phoebe said.

"Still, I don't think a spell's a good idea. Too much could go wrong. You could end up in a completely different time than the one you're looking for. Not to mention that you don't even know what time you're looking for," Leo said.

"We have a good enough idea. When Chris first came, he said that he's was from about twenty years from the future. That would put it in 2026," Phoebe said.

"No, it's too risky," Leo said. Even if that was the right year, there was still the very big chance of a backfire. They could end up anywhere. The last thing he needed was all three of them stuck separately without a way out.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go talk to the other Elders and see what they think. They sent you to the future before, maybe they will again," Leo said. It was really a fifty-fifty shot. They might do it or they might think the risk to the future was too great. There was no way to know for sure.

Phoebe nodded. "Okay, go."

Leo immediately orbed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

_Year 2026_

Piper sat on the cement floor of her cell. She was literally shaking. She couldn't believe any of this was happening. When she followed Chris to the future, she never imagined that she'd find herself being held hostage by Wyatt.

Wyatt. Her baby boy was evil. She couldn't even reconcile the words. How could her innocent baby turn into the cold young man she'd just seen? What had gone wrong? Was it her? Did she do something to something to cause this? Was she a bad mother? She didn't see how she could be a good one for her son to turn out like this.

Soon Piper heard a loud noise. She looked up in time to see two men dragging an unconscious Chris into the cell. They dropped him none to gently on the hard floor and then left.

"Chris," Piper said as she ran to his side. He looked awful. He had gashes all over the place and he was shaking, kind of like he was suffering from electroshock. She guessed that he was probably hit with a few energy balls. "Chris, can you hear me. It's Piper."

Chris groaned and started to open his eyes. He found his mother looking back at him. "M...Mom?"

"No, it's Piper," she said, assuming that he was hallucinating.

"What?" Chris asked in confusion. Then he remembered everything that happened. This was the past version of his mother. She'd followed him to the future. "Oh, Piper. Are you okay?

Piper looked at him as though he had two heads. "Am _I_ okay? You're asking if _I'm_ okay. I'm not the one that just got tortured."

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse," Chris said quietly with his eyes closed.

The scary thing was that Piper believed him. It was obvious that this was not his first experience with torture at the hands of her son. "I'm sorry, Chris."

"Don't," Chris said. He could tell what she was doing. She was blaming herself and there was no way he was going to let that happen. "It's not your fault, Piper."

"Of course it's my fault. He's my son. How could I let this happen? What kind of mother allows her own son to become the kind of person that would torture another human being?" Piper asked in tears.

"Piper, please don't. You're a wonderful mother," Chris said. He couldn't stand hearing his mother talk like this. He hated that she was blaming herself for what Wyatt became. It was one of the reasons he never told her the truth. True, he didn't think she would believe him, but he wouldn't have told her anyway because he knew she would blame herself.

Piper shook her head. "Wonderful mothers don't let their son's turn evil. I'm sorry, Chris, and I swear, if we make it back home, I will do whatever I have to do to stop it. But first we need to get you healed. We need a whitelighter or an Elder."

"Good luck with that. You won't find many of those around. They're either dead or in hiding," Chris said.

"What about Leo? Is he alive?" Piper asked. She knew if she called for Leo he would come and heal Chris. Not even twenty years could change that about Leo.

Chris opened his eyes widely. "Don't even think about it! You call him her and you'll get him killed." He knew that Leo would come if Piper called him and if he did that he would be killed on the spot. Despite their issues, Chris did not want his father dead.

"Wyatt wouldn't kill his own father," Piper said. She couldn't believe that. She couldn't believe that her baby was that far gone. She wouldn't.

Chris sighed sadly. "Oh, Piper, you have no idea what he's capable of. Who he'd hurt to get what he wants. There's no line he won't cross, no one he won't sacrifice. He'd kill Leo just to prove a point. He'd even kill you."

Piper swallowed as she attempted to take the information in. She didn't want to believe it, but at this point Chris had no reason to lie, not to mention that she had seen how evil Wyatt had become with her own eyes. "So what do we do then? We have to get out of here."

"Our only real chance is Bianca," Chris said.

"Bianca? Bianca is the reason we're in this mess," Piper said furiously. She hated Bianca for this. She hated her for making her see her baby boy like this.

"No, she's the reason _I'm_ here," Chris corrected. "You're here because you stupidly followed us through a portal. Anyway, Bianca did what she did because she thought she'd be helping me in the long run. I have to believe she'll see the error of her ways."

"Even if she does, how can she help?" Piper asked.

"She can get a message to the Resistance and..."

"Resistance?" Piper asked.

"It's a group of warriors that fight against Wyatt. It's not much, but it's all we have. We operate underground because it's the only safe place for us," Chris explained.

"That's where you said all the whitelighters were," Piper recalled.

"The few that are left. Our group is made up of all different species. It's mostly witches and whitelighters, but there are mortals too and even some demons. We can't afford to discriminate. We're fighting a war," Chris said.

"So that's why you make some of the questionable choices you do. You're used to how this time when you didn't have a choice," Piper said. She was finally starting to understand Chris a bit. He was the way he was for a reason. He made choices that some might consider questionable or even evil because he had no other choice. "So what do we do now? Just wait and hope Bianca does the right thing?"

"She will. I have to believe that. In the meantime though, I need to sleep. Torture takes a lot out of a person. You should sleep too. You may not get another chance for a while if you don't," Chris said before closing his eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Piper sat by Chris' side as he slept. She looked at his bruised and battered body and took in all of his injuries. Injuries he received at the hands of her own son. To say that it unnerved her would be putting it mildly. Her own child had inflicted severe pain onto a man who only wanted to save him.

And why had Chris wanted to save Wyatt. Why would he want to save someone that caused him so much? That was the question that was really on Piper's mind. Chris should hate Wyatt. He'd put him through numerous counts of torture and that was just tonight. God only knew what he'd done to him before. Yet Chris still risked everything to save him. Why? Why would anyone do that?

Piper was pulled from her thoughts by Bianca's voice. "Is he okay?"

Piper sent the young woman a scathing look. "Does he look okay? He's just been tortured for God only knows how long. Of course he's not okay!"

Bianca looked down at Chris sadly. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

Piper got up and approached Bianca. "No? What the hell did you think was going to happen? That you could just force him back here and plan your wedding. Because if you believed that, you're much more naive than you look."

"Wyatt promised he wouldn't hurt him," Bianca said.

"Yeah, well, guess what? Wyatt's evil," Piper said. It killed her to say those words, but it was the truth. She couldn't deny that any longer, not when there was living proof of his evil just a few feet away from her. "He's basically a demon now and demons lie. Being pretty much a demon yourself, you should know that."

"It's not the same. It's Chris," Bianca said pointedly.

"What difference would that make? Where Wyatt and Chris friends?" Piper asked. That would actually make sense. It would explain why Chris wanted to save Wyatt so much despite the pain he was causing him.

"Yeah, you could say that. They were inseparable. Trust me, if Chris was anyone else, he'd be dead right now," Bianca said seriously. "As it is, if Chris doesn't come around soon, I'm afraid Wyatt will kill him despite their connection."

"Come around? You make it sound like Chris is the one that needs to see reason and not Wyatt," Piper said. She couldn't believe she was actually defending the whitelighter she barely trusted at all yesterday instead of her own son, but she felt she had no choice. There was certainly no defending Wyatt now.

Bianca laughed humorlessly. "You don't get it. There is no reasoning with Wyatt. He can't see anything past his quest for power. Yeah, a small part of him gives a damn about Chris, but enough to do anything about it."

"And yet you brought him here. You put him in this cell. He was fine before you came and forced him back," Piper aid. Okay, so he wasn't exactly fine, but he wasn't in danger of being sadistically tortured either.

"If it hadn't been me it would've been someone else and they wouldn't have cared about bringing him back in one piece. I thought I could reason with him. I thought I could get him to see that agreeing to Wyatt's terms was the only way. I should've known it wouldn't work. He's too stubborn. From what I hear, he gets it from his mother," Bianca said.

"Good for him," Piper said.

Bianca glared at her. "You don't seem to be getting this. Wyatt will kill Chris if he doesn't back off!"

"The hell he will. I'm getting Chris out of here, even if I have to call Leo," Piper said. She knew Chris didn't want her calling Leo, but she would do it if she had to. That plan was much better than trusting Bianca to come through for them.

"If Leo comes here, he'll be killed. Wyatt has this place screened for whitelighters. He'll know the second Leo orbs in and he'll have him taken out before Leo can even get the cell door open. You won't be saving Chris, you'll just be killing your husband," Bianca told her.

Bianca's words did scare Piper, but she really didn't have much choice. Besides, if they could make it back to the past they could change it all. "I guess that's just a chance I'm gonna have to take. Unless Chris is right."

"Right about what?" Piper asked.

"Chris seems to think that you're going to come through for us. He thinks that you'll go for help and rescue him. I'm personally much more cynical than him. I think you're nothing now but one of Wyatt's cronies. So the question is who's right? Me or Chris?"

Bianca looked between Chris and Piper for a few moments and then left.

Piper looked at her watch as Bianca left. One hour. She would give Bianca one hour to do the right thing and then she was calling Leo.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chris slowly began to wake up. He opened his eyes and saw Piper by his side. "Hey."

"Hey. How you feeling?" Piper asked.

"Like hell. No one came while I was our, right? No one bothered you?" Chris asked.

"No," Piper lied. She decided not to tell him about Bianca. There was no point in getting his hopes up that Bianca would do the right thing. Speaking of, her time was just about up. It was time to call Leo. "I'm sorry, Chris, but we don't have a choice now. We need to get you out of here."

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked nervously. He didn't know what she was planning, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to like it.

Piper looked towards the ceiling and opened her mouth to call for Leo when she heard a loud blast. "What the hell was that?"

Chris slowly began to smile. "She did it. Bianca came through for us. It's the Resistance."

"How do you know?" Piper asked.

"The blast. My uncle likes to make an entrance whenever he's on a mission. That's what the blast was. It's his signature. He's obviously the distraction. In about two seconds someone should..." Chris trailed off when he saw a young girl with dark hair and blue eyes shimmer in.

"Hey, cuz. You look like hell," the young woman said.

"As sensitive as ever, Paula," Chris said as he attempted to sit up.

"Who is this, Chris?" Piper asked as she helped Chris up.

"It's okay, she's my cousin. She's here to help," Chris said.

Piper raised an eyebrow. This girl had shimmered. She was a demon. How could Chris be related to a demon?

Chris could tell what she was thinking. "Later, okay," he said before turning Paula. "I don't suppose you have keys." Wyatt had the cells protected against magic, so she couldn't just shimmer in and get them.

Paula smirked and held out a set of keys. "Ye of little faith."

Piper soon noticed a guard come in through the corner of her eye. "Look out!"

Paula turned and threw an energy ball at the guard. "That was rude. I was busy."

"Enough of the theatrics, Paula. Just hurry up," Chris ordered.

"Yeah, yeah," Paula said before opening the cell. She then went over and got on the other side of Chris and put his arm around her shoulder.

"How long do we have?" Chris asked.

"Well, you know, Daddy. He's pretty good at distractions. But then again, Wyatt probably already knows why we're here, so I doubt we have long. So let's not waste any time," she said as she led the way out.

Just as they walked out a demon came and through a fire ball at them. They just barely dodged it. Paula then through her own fireball at him.

"Let's get out of here now," Piper said.

"I'm all for that. Hang on, People," Paula said before shimmering them all away.


	4. Chapter 4

The next thing Piper knew she was standing in some kind of tunnel. "Where are we?"

"We're about five a mile from Headquarters. We have to go the rest of the way on foot," Paula said.

"Our compound has shields which keeps magic from getting in and out. Magic can be used once inside, but we have to get in and out the normal way. It's the best way for us to protect ourselves from Wyatt," Chris explained.

"What stops him from walking through the front door?" Piper wondered.

Paula smirked. "You'll see."

They all walked for about ten minutes before coming to a door. There was a handprint scanner next to it. Paula immediately put her hand on it. "Wyatt and his goons have never been able to find this place, but if they did, they'd need security clearance before they could get in. If one of them even tries, we'll be instantly alerted."

The security system recognized Paula and they were able to walk in.

"This is like a government agency with all this security," Piper commented as they walked down a large corridor.

"Maybe, but it's necessary. It's how we stay safe," Chris said

"Where are we going?" Piper asked.

"Chris' room. We're gonna get him in bed and then I'll get someone to heal him," Paula said before walking into a room on the right. There was a bed in the middle of the room, a dresser, and an end table with a lamp on it

"I take it this is your room, Chris," Piper said.

"What was your first clue?" Paula asked sarcastically as she and Piper helped Chris onto the bed.

"So sarcasm runs in the family, does it?" Piper asked rhetorically.

Chris laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. Paula gets her unique sarcasm from her mother."

Piper snorted. "Spoken from the king of sarcasm."

"Ha! Take that Mister high and mighty. Now I better check in and get you a whitelighter before another team is dispatched unnecessarily," Paula said before leaving.

Piper watched her leave before turning back to Chris with a stunned look on her face. "Wow. She's unlike any demon I've ever met."

"She's only part demon and she wasn't raised as one. Sure she has the powers, but she was taught to use them for good," Chris said.

"How is she related to you? I mean you're not part demon, are you?" Piper asked. She'd never seen anything to suggest that he was, but then again she was finding out all sorts of new things about Chris.

"No, Paula's is my cousin from my mother's side. Her father is my uncle by marriage," Chris said tiredly. He was about ready to pass out. Getting there had taken a lot out of him.

"So she's a witch?" Piper asked. She figured she had to be. Chris' other side would be whitelighter and she had a hard time believing that any whitelighter would fall for a demon.

"No, she's like me. Part witch, part whitelighter," Chris said.

At this point, Piper knew that her whitelighter was clearly out of it. He wouldn't be telling her all this if he was aware of what he was saying. She certainly wasn't gonna complain though. She'd found out more about Chris in the last five minutes than she had since she met him.

"Paula's the ultimate high bred. She's part everything," Chris continued in somewhat of a haze.

Just then Piper heard someone come into the room. It was her sister Paige. "Paige?"

Paige smiled. "Hey, sis. How we doing here?"

"He's kinda out of it. I don't think he knows what he's saying anymore," Piper said.

Paige went over to Chris and placed her hand on top of his head. "He's exhausted. Being tortured takes a lot out of you."

"You have to get someone to heal him," Piper said.

"What do you think I'm here for?" Paige asked before placing her hands just above Chris' body. The golden glow emitted from her hands as she began to heal him.

"You can heal now," Piper stated.

"It's been over twenty years, Piper. A lot's changed," Paige said.

Piper began to get uncomfortable. "Yeah, so I've noticed."

Paige saw the look her sister had on her face. "You know about Wyatt."

Piper closed her eyes sadly and nodded.

The golden glow finally stopped and Paige lowered her hands to her side. "He's healed, but he's exhausted. He's gonna be out for a while."

"You seem to care about him a lot," Piper observed.

"Of course I care about him. How could you even think I wouldn't?" Paige asked. Then she realized that Piper probably didn't know who Chris was to her. Chris was very good at keeping secrets. Better than anyone she'd ever met. If he didn't want Piper to know then she wouldn't. "We've worked together every day since Wyatt's turn. He's a good kid."

"I'm starting to see that," Piper said. For a while she never saw Chris as anything but a nuisance that might or might not have been trustworthy, but after seeing Wyatt and what he did to Chris, she could no longer see him like that.

"How much has Chris told you?" Paige asked. She had to figure out exactly what she could say to Piper and what she couldn't. She did know one thing. Her husband and daughter were off limits because if Piper knew about them and told her past self, it could literally destroy her family. If the younger her knew who she was married to, she'd have a conniption. She would do everything she could to stop it. Paige would not let that happen. Her family was one of the few things that made this life worth living.

"Before or after we came here? In the beginning, all he told us was that he was a whitelighter and that he'd come to protect Wyatt from some kind of evil. He never told us that Wyatt was actually the evil he wanted to stop," Piper said.

"You wouldn't have believed him," Paige said. It wasn't a question. She knew for a fact that none of them would've believed that Wyatt, especially back then. They had all been kind of ignorant and narrow minded back then.

"No, I wouldn't have," Piper admitted.

Soon Paula entered the room. "Mo... Paige, we need you. The others just got back and it's bad. Melinda was hit really bad. We need all healers."

"Stay here and don't tell Chris about Melinda if he wakes up," Paige told Piper before rushing out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Piper walked through the halls of the compound. She'd stayed with Chris for about an hour before deciding that enough was enough. She was not going to sit in that room and watch Chris sleep. She was going to find out what the hell was going on whether her sister or Chris liked it or not.

Piper turned the corner and finally began hearing voices. She followed the voices until she could hear them coherently. She saw that they came from behind a door that was slightly ajar.

"I want that bitch's head!" Piper heard Paige say. She sounded extremely pissed off. More angry than Piper had ever seen her.

"We've cancelled Bianca's security clearance and made sure all the others know that she is not to be trusted," said another voice that Piper didn't recognize.

"That's not even close to good enough! I want the traitor dead!" Paige said vehemently.

Piper flinched a little at her sister's tone. Never had she heard her sister speak that coldly before. Not that Bianca didn't deserve anything Paige wanted to do to her, but it still unnerved Piper to hear her sister talk like that.

"Okay, I'm saying that she doesn't deserve to suffer, but she's not really the issue. She didn't kill Bianca, Wyatt did," the unfamiliar man said.

"But Wyatt wouldn't have had the chance if not for Bianca. Melinda's dead because we had to go in and rescue Chris and Piper."

Piper gasped. She knew that voice. She could never forget that voice. It belonged to someone she'd long thought dead. Someone she and her sisters had really hoped would stay dead.

"Cole and Paige are right. Bianca is nothing but a traitor. She deserves to suffer for what she did," another voice said.

"Aren't you the one that was praising their love not too long ago?"

"Well, I didn't expect her to betray us, did I? I didn't expect her to go join the man that killed my wife and daughter," he said.

"Look, I just don't think she should be killed for something she obviously regrets.

"Tell that to my daughter," Leo said icily.

Piper felt a shiver run down her spine at Leo's words. Melinda was his daughter? Did that mean she was her daughter too? It had to. Melinda was a Halliwell family name. If she was Leo's she was Pipers as well. And now she was dead. Her daughter had died at the hands of her son.

"Leo, calm down. Rick, you really need to lose this pacifist attitude. It's gonna get you or one of us killed," Cole said.

"Oh, don't give me that, Turner. I have no problem with killing when necessary, but we're talking about revenge here," the man, Rick said.

"What do you expect from us? You saw what Wyatt did to Melinda. Have you seen Chris? The little bastard tortured him half to death. And why was he able to do that? Because his fiancé stripped him of his powers and forced him back here," Paige said.

"Enough, everyone. This is getting us nowhere. Look, Rick is right about one thing. Bianca isn't the real problem, Wyatt is. We have to figure out a plan to stop him once and for all," Cole said. It sounded to Piper like he was probably in charge though she wasn't sure why.

"I thought the plan was pretty obvious. We get Chris' powers back and then we send him and Piper back to the past."

"No," Leo piped up.

"Leo..."

"No, Cole. Sending Piper back is fine, but Chris isn't going," Leo said firmly.

"Listen, Leo, I know you're reeling right now, but..."

"He's not going! I am," Leo said.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds. Then Cole spoke again. "You wanna go to the past? Leo, that's not a good idea. Do you know how much damage it could cause for there to be two of you there? That's why we sent Chris, remember? Well, that and the fact that he he's more powerful than the rest of us."

Piper raised an eyebrow at her former brother-in-law's words. Chris was that powerful? He didn't seem all that powerful. Then again, he was good at hiding things. Until just before they came to the future, she didn't even know he was part witch.

"But he won't use those powers. He won't do what has to be done," Leo said.

"I'm afraid to ask this question, but what exactly do you think has to be done?" Cole asked.

Piper was afraid of the answer too. She didn't like the way her ex-husband had said that. What exactly was he planning on doing?

"You know what has to be done, Cole. You've all said it before and I didn't want to listen. Well, I'm listening now. Wyatt has to go. We have to kill him," Leo said.

Piper could hardly believe the words coming out of Leo's mouth. He was talking about executing their child. How could he even consider such a thing? Yes, it was obvious that Wyatt had done some awful things, but he was still their son. It was their job to love him no matter what.

"Leo, you're not thinking clearly right now."

"Don't patronize me, Coop. I know exactly what I'm saying. My daughter is dead because of him. I'm not gonna let him take my son too," Leo said firmly.

Once again, Piper was surprised by what she was hearing. She had another child? Where was he? Was he in that room with the rest of them?

"You think I don't understand what you're going through right now. I know what it's like to lose a child to that monster. It takes you to a really dark place. But you're talking about going back in time and killing an innocent baby," Coop said.

"That thing is far from innocent," Leo said.

Piper was horrified by the callous way Leo spoke of their son. How could he do that? He was supposed to love Wyatt unconditionally. That was his job as Wyatt's father. He had the right to be angry and lash out, but he didn't have the right to totally give up on him and actually plot his murder.

"He was back then, Leo," Cole said.

"How do we know that? Seriously, how do we know that some demon did this? Maybe he was just born this way," Leo said.

"You're starting to sound a bit like Gideon here," Paige commented.

"Well, maybe Gideon was right," he said.

"Maybe he was," Paige said quietly.

"Paige," Cole said.

"I'm serious, Cole. Maybe Leo's right. Maybe this is the way Wyatt was always going to turn out. Maybe he was just born without a conscience. Look, I don't want to believe it anymore than anyone else here does, but what choice do we have? We have to consider the possibility," Paige said.

"Look, it wouldn't be hard. Wyatt's still a baby. I can take him out with limited difficulty," Leo said.

"And you really think you can do that? You think you can kill your own son?" Coop asked.

"That thing isn't my son. I only have one son now and it's about time I started acting like his father. He comes first now like he should've in the first place. I need to protect him like I never would before. This is the only way I know how. This way he and Melinda will grow up the way they were supposed to," Leo said.

"I think maybe Leo's right," Paige said.

"Paige."

"No, Cole. I watched my niece die. I won't watch as he possibly kills our..."

Piper didn't hear the rest of what her sister was saying because a hand yanked her away from the door. She turned and saw that it was Chris.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chris demanded.

"What's it look like I'm doing. I'm apparently finding out that my own family wants nothing more than to kill my child," Piper said. She felt so betrayed by Leo and Paige right now. How could they be so willing to believe that her child was born evil? How could they actually plot his demise?

"How much did you hear?" Chris asked. He needed to figure out how much damage control he had to do.

"Enough to know that I need to get home before Leo kills my baby," Piper said. She would not let that happen. She would kill Leo before she allowed him to touch one hair on her child's head.

"Leo? What the hell are you talking about?" Chris asked in confusion.

"He wants to kill Wyatt. He said he wants to go back in time and kill my baby!" Piper said angrily.

"Hold on a second. Leo's in there?" Chris asked surprised. His father wasn't a part of the Resistance when he left. The last he knew the man was still trying to deny that Wyatt was even evil. Though that seemed kind of impossible to Chris.

"Yeah. He's in there plotting to kill my son. You know what's worse? Paige is actually agreeing. She thinks my baby should die," Piper said in disbelief.

"Okay, if that's true something had to have happened. What happened?" Chris asked. There was no way his father and aunt would agree to kill his brother unless something really bad happened.

"Well, apparently Wyatt killed my daughter," Piper said. Paige had asked her not to tell Chris, but to hell with Paige. She didn't owe her anything after this.

Chris felt everything inside him go cold. It couldn't be true. His sister couldn't be dead. Piper had to be wrong. She just had to be. "No, you heard wrong. Melinda's not dead. She can't be.

"Well, they said different in there. They said Wyatt killed her. They want blood from both Wyatt and Bianca," Piper said.

"No. No!" Chris exclaimed before running off in the opposite direction.

"Chris, where are you going? Chris!" Piper called after him. It was too late though. He was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Piper was still standing in the hall when Paige, Cole, and Leo came out. They must have heard her yell after Chris.

Paige angrily walked over to Piper. "What the hell are you doing out here. I told you to stay with Chris."

Piper glared at her sister. "Yeah, and now I know why. So you could plot my son's murder?"

"You heard us?" Cole asked as he and Leo made their way over.

"Every word," she said before glaring at Leo. "And you. How dare you? He's your son for God's sake!"

The old Leo would've immediately balked. He would never have dared go against Piper. But he was not the old Leo. He would not back down. "How dare you? You don't know me anymore. More than that though you don't know him. You have no idea the things I've seen that little bastard do."

Piper couldn't get over the way Leo spoke of Wyatt. It was as if he was talking about a stranger instead of his own son. "He's your son."

"I don't care," Leo stated emotionlessly. He knew it was wrong, but it was how he felt. For a long time Wyatt was everything to him. He made his whole world about Wyatt to the extent that he neglected his other children, especially Chris. But not anymore. Now Wyatt was nothing but a monster to him. Leo didn't love him. He even hated him.

"Y...You don't care?" Piper sputtered. She was almost immobilized by Leo's words. She didn't recognize this man at all. He wasn't the same loving and attentive father she'd left in the past. He looked like him, but the words were not Leo's. They were not words he would ever say. Yet he was. He actually wished their child dead.

Cole decided to step in before things got ugly. "Alright, enough. Piper, where's Chris. I heard you yelling for him."

Piper pointed straight ahead. "He ran that way. He was upset."

Paige narrowed her eyes at her sister. "You told him, didn't you? You told him about Melinda."

"Oh God, I gotta find him," Leo said before rushing in the direction Piper indicated.

"So Chris you care about, but not your own son!" Piper yelled after him. She didn't begrudge Leo caring about Chris. She was surprised by it, but she didn't have a problem with it. No, what she had a problem with was that he didn't seem to have any feelings towards his own son.

Paige glared at Piper. "You do realize you're trying to protect a murderer, right?"

"He's my son. Leo may be able to forget that, but I can't," Piper said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have any idea what it took for me to make Leo finally see the truth?" Cole asked.

"Cole, don't," Paige warned. The less Piper knew about their world the better. Not just for the future, but also for her own peace of mind. The things they'd seen would haunt Piper for the rest of her life.

"How are you even here? We vanquished you and for good reason," Piper said.

"Back off, Piper," Paige said.

Piper raised an eyebrow. Now she'd seen it all. She never ever thought the day would come where Paige would defend Cole. "You take sides with him now? You hated him."

"I don't know if you've noticed lately, but nothing is how it once was," Paige said.

"Trust me, I've noticed," Piper said quietly. She would have to be blind to not notice how horrible this world was. Wyatt was evil and everyone, including his own family wanted him dead. Ironically the only two she knew that didn't seem to were Cole and Chris.

"If that's another dig about what you overheard, I'm not going to apologize for it. He's a psychopath. I'll do whatever it takes to stop him," Paige said firmly.

"Including kill an innocent baby," Piper said bitterly.

Paige was about to respond when she heard Coop's voice. "Paige."

"I'll be back," Paige said before heading over to Coop.

"Who is that?" Piper asked Cole while looking at the man her sister went over to.

"His name's Coop. He's a cupid," Cole said.

"I didn't know cupid's fought," Piper said. Cupids were supposed to be all about love. To her that meant non-violent.

"Traditionally they didn't, but tradition got thrown out the window many years ago. Now you fight or you die, no matter what side you're on. It's as simple as that," Cole said. "Besides, Coop lost his family to Wyatt too. He fights for them."

"I didn't think cupids could have families," Piper said.

Cole snorted. "Coming from the wife of a whitelighter."

"Ex-wife," Piper corrected.

"What?" Cole asked in confusion. That didn't make any sense. Yes, Piper and Leo were divorced, but that didn't happen until Chris was about two or three.

"Shouldn't you know this already? I mean you have already lived through all this. Leo and I divorced after he became an elder," Piper said.

"And when was that?" Cole asked. Again, Leo was an elder now, but it didn't happen in the year Piper came from.

"A few months ago. Right after we battled the Titans," Piper said.

Cole took in the information and soon began to realize the implications of it all. "I'll kill him."

"Who are we killing?" Paige asked as she rejoined them.

"Come with me," Cole said before pulling Paige away without giving Piper the chance to object.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chris walked into the infirmary and approached his sister's... He approached her. "Oh, Mel, what did he do to you?"

Unsurprisingly Melinda didn't answer.

Chris pulled a chair over and sat down. He then took her hand. He noted that she was still warm. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted this to happen. I wanted to save him, but I didn't want to lose you. I swear, if I had known...

Chris trailed off when he heard someone else come in. He turned to see his father standing in the doorway with tears in his eyes. "Come to tell me this is all my fault? Go ahead, you'd be right."

"this is not your fault, Chris," Leo said.

"Of course it is. How can you even say it's not? Melinda died trying to help rescue me. She died because of me," Chris said, his voice cracking towards the end.

Lea started walking towards his son. "No, she died because of Wyatt. Wyatt and Bianca."

Chris looked at his father like he had two heads. Why are you defending me? You've never done that before, not even when you should've.

Leo felt guilt well up in his chest. It was true; he'd never been much of a father to Chris, Melinda either in some ways, but mostly with Chris. It hadn't been intentional, but Chris had been pushed into the background. It had happened because Leo never felt he had to worry about Chris like he did with Wyatt. There was never any question in his mind that Chris would stay good. He couldn't say the same about Wyatt. While he shrugged Gideon's claims of power corruption off, the other man's words had always stayed with him. He felt he had to pay more attention to Wyatt. "I know, Chris. I know I did you wrong, son. I'm sorry.

"Yeah, you're always sorry, aren't you? I can't even count the number of letters I've gotten from you over the years saying that," Chris said resentfully.

"Chris..."

"Now isn't the time. I wanna be alone with my sister," Chris said.

Leo moved his gaze over to his little girl and stared at her sadly before leaving the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Cole and Paige were in what looked to be an office. It had two desks set up across from each other. Cole was sitting behind one of them while Paige was parched on the desk. They were discussing what Cole had learned from Piper.

"Has he lost his damn mind? He's gonna erase himself. Wait, how come we don't remember any of this?" Paige asked. If Chris had changed anything in past they should've started to remember.

"My guess is that it's because all the possible consequences haven't played out yet. Chris is still here, so whether he's going to continue to exist or not hasn't been fully decided yet. Once it is we should start to form new memories," Cole explained.

"Well, Chris will exist even if I have to tell Piper who he is myself," Paige said. While she was a big believer in the whole future consequences thing, she would risk it in heartbeat to save her nephew.

"First thing's first. Chris can't be conceived until we get Piper back to her time," Cole said.

"We need to decide if Chris is going back with her," Paige said.

"That's up to Chris, but I think he's going to be even more determined to finish the mission," Cole said. He knew his nephew really well. Melinda's death was going to strengthen his resolve.

"Okay, we both know it's not up to Chris, it's up to us."

"Paige..."

"Cole, I really think we should give Leo's idea some consideration," Paige said. While she knew that Leo's idea was very drastic and desperate, they were at desperate times. They needed to end this once and for all. "What if he's right? What if this was just how Wyatt was born?"

"Aren't you the one who always said that children aren't born evil?" Cole asked.

"That was before my own nephew went on a killing spree. Before he murdered my sisters and my nieces, not to mention Ben," Paige said. She was on the verge of tears at the end.

Cole became quiet and very somber. He then placed his hand on top of Paige's. "You know that I would do anything to stop what happened to Ben. You know that I would love to rip Wyatt's throat out for what he did to him. But I just can't justify murdering an innocent baby on a theory. And I don't think you really could either. What you're saying now, it's the grief talking. It's having to deal with yet another loss because of Wyatt."

"Maybe you're right, but I still think it needs to be considered. What if Leo is right?" Paige asked.

"I have considered it. And if I find that Leo is right, I'll do it. I'll take Wyatt out, but not until I'm absolutely sure," Cole said.

"And do you intend to do that. You got some kind of special way to keep in touch with Chris in the past?" Paige asked.

Cole shifted uncomfortably. He knew that Paige was not going to like what he had planned.

Paige immediately figured out what he was getting at. "Oh my God. You wanna go with him. You wanna go with Chris back to the past. No way in hell, Cole! You're not going anywhere!"

"I have to. Not just to determine if Leo is correct, but also to make sure that what happened with Bianca doesn't happen again," Cole said.

Paige was about to respond when she heard a knock on the door. She was more than a little displeased by the interruption. "Go away!"

Instead of heeding her warning, the person opened the door. It was Coop. "Look, I'm sorry for interrupting, but we have a situation in the hall by the conference room."

"What kind of situation?" Cole asked as he stood up in alarm. The word 'situation' was not a good in this day and age.

"Oh, don't worry it's nothing that severe. Piper and Leo are just sort of going at it in the middle of the hall," Coop said.

"I'll take care of it," Cole said before heading towards the door.

"This conversation is not over, Cole," Paige called after him.

"I never thought it was," Cole said before continuing on his way.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

By the time Cole got to Piper and Leo, their 'conversation' was pretty heated. They were pretty much screaming at each other.

"If you think I'm going to apologize for wanting to be rid of that thing you've got another thing coming!" Leo yelled.

"Stop calling him that! He is not some thing to be disposed of. He's your son damn it!" Piper said angrily.

"He's a monster! He's an evil little bastard who needs to be put down!" Leo shouted.

"Hey!" Cole boomed. "That's enough! Do we not have enough problems right now without the two of you fighting in the middle of the hall?"

Piper glared at her former brother-in-law. "This has nothing to do with you, Cole, so back off!"

"The hell it's not! This is a safe haven, Piper. It's a place for people who don't want to be a part of Wyatt's world. It is not a place for you to rip into the people trying to make this world a bitter place!" Cole bit out angrily. He then turned to Leo. "And you. You ought to know better. We battle enemies every day. Isn't that enough?"

"If you think I'm just going to sit by while plots to murder my son..."

"Newsflash, Piper, we all want your son dead," Cole told her. Oh, yes, he wanted Wyatt dead too. The only difference between him and Leo was that he preferred to take his rage out on the version of Wyatt from this time.

"I'm not going to let you hurt my baby," Piper said firmly. Powers or no, she would find a way to stop them from hurting her little boy.

"I see. Come with me," Cole instructed.

"Like hell! I'm not going anywhere with you," Piper said. She didn't trust Cole any further than she could throw him. He was still the evil bastard that nearly destroyed her sister's life.

"Have it your way," Cole said before grabbing Piper by the arm and shimmering away with her. They materialized a second later in the infirmary.

"Get off me!" Piper snarled as she pulled her arm out of Cole's grasp. She looked around and saw a bunch of beds and medical equipment. The beds were all empty except one. One had someone laying there under a white sheet. Her heart pounded as stepped towards the bed. "W...Who is this?"

"See for yourself," Cole said as he removed the sheet, revealing Melinda's body.

Piper looked at the young woman in front of her. She looked a lot like her. She had the same hair color and facial features. There was no denying it. This was Melinda. This was daughter of hers that Wyatt had killed.

"This is your daughter, Piper. Or I should say this _w_as your daughter. She was a wonderful young woman. She was so full of life. When she was young she wanted to be nurse. She wanted to help people both magically and mortally. She had a really big hear," Cole said.

"Stop," Piper begged through her tears. She couldn't listen to this. She couldn't hear about all these things while looking at her daughter's dead body. She couldn't hear about the wonderful person her son had killed. She'd known before that Wyatt had done it. That he'd murdered her daughter, his sister, but it just didn't seem to be real for her until now. She could ignore it before, but it's hard to ignore something when you're staring it right in the face

"No, I won't stop. You need to hear this. You need to understand what drives us all. Why Leo and Paige are so willing to kill Wyatt in the past before he gets the chance to become what he is today. This is the reason. Well, one of them anyway. There are others. You, Phoebe, Phoebe's children... M...My son. He killed them all," Cole said with as much composure as he could muster.

"B...But why?" Piper asked shakily. She just didn't understand how Wyatt could do this? How could he murder his own family like that?

"Because he could. That was all the reason he needed. He's evil, Piper. You need to accept that," Cole said.

"I need to get out of here. I need to go home. I don't wanna be here anymore," Piper cried. She did not want to be in this horrible world a second longer. She didn't want to be in a world where nearly her entire family was slaughtered by her own son. She wanted to get back to the world that made sense to her.

"I can't blame you for that. Who in their right mind would wanna be here?" Cole asked rhetorically.

"I gotta get out of here," Piper said before running out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Chris was sitting in one of the kitchen areas when Cole found him. "Hey. How you doing, Buddy?"

"How do you think? My sister's dead because she was trying to save me," Chris said miserably.

"You know it off right now. I am not going to stand here and listen to you blame yourself for something you could not control. Wyatt is responsible for Melinda's death, not you," Cole said firmly.

"You sound like Leo. Speaking of, he wasn't here when I left. When did he join the Resistance?" Chris asked.

"A couple of months ago," Cole replied.

"Do I wanna know what changed?" Chris asked. He was almost afraid to know what changed. Something big must have happened for his father to flip-flop like that. And by something big he meant something bad.

"No," Cole said simply.

Chris nodded. He was more than willing to accept that answer. In this world, sometimes it was better not to know. "Is it true that he wants Wyatt dead? Piper said he wanted to go back and kill him as a baby.

Cole sat down next to his nephew. "A lot's happened since you left. Your father has seen things that not even he can ignore."

"There's a difference between facing the truth and wanting to murder your own son," Chris said. Something awful must have happened to cause that. For so many years, his father had lived for Wyatt. His entire world revolved around him. Now he had done a complete one-eighty.

"Leo's not thinking clearly, especially after today," Cole said.

Chris felt a sharp pain in his chest as he was reminded of his sister's premature death. "I don't want Wyatt dead. Even after what he just did, I don't want him dead." Despite everything that Wyatt had done, he couldn't bring himself to wish death on him. He probably should, but he didn't. Wyatt was still his brother and that mattered to him.

"Leo will not go to the past. I won't allow it," Cole said.

Chris nodded gratefully. He knew as co-leader of the Resistance that his uncle did have that power. While He round two would start real soon.

"I am," Cole added.

Chris did a double take. "What?"

"I'm going back with you and Piper," Cole said.

"You can't. You'll mess up the future," Chris said.

Cole snorted. "Yes, because the future isn't already messed up."

"Uncle, Cole you don't have to do this. I can handle things," Chris said.

"And what if you can't? What if you can't save Wyatt? What if nobody can? Have you thought about that at all?" Cole asked.

Chris slowly began to realize what his uncle was getting at. "You're gonna kill him, aren't you. If I can't save him, you're going to kill him the way Leo wants to."

"Yes," Cole said truthfully. That was his main reason for going. If it turned out that Leo and Paige were right, he would end the threat to the future, meaning Wyatt. He didn't relish the idea of killing a child, but he would if he had to. "But look, we're not even close to that point yet. The only way I'll do that is if I become convinced that Wyatt was not turned and that this was simply who he chose to be. I'm not at that point yet."

"I...I can't believe that could be true. Something had to turn him," Chris said. He refused to believe that his brother was just born evil. That just wasn't possible to him and he refused to even entertain the idea.

"Well, if that's true we'll stop it. Two heads are better than one, right?" Cole asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah, I guess," Chris relented. He supposed his uncle was right; it would be nice to have someone in his corner when he went back. He didn't show it, but sometimes it was really hard dealing with his family's distrust.

Cole stood up after a minute. "Alright, well, I better go find your aunt so that we can continue the mother of all fights."

Chris smirked. "Aunt Paige not happy about your plan?"

"Not even a little bit," Cole said before heading out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Piper was sitting on the floor against the wall in one of the many hallways looking miserable. She couldn't get Melinda out of her mind. The image of her dead daughter would be burned into her brain for the rest of her life. She kept imagining how it happened. How Wyatt killed his sister. She didn't want to imagine it, but she just couldn't keep the images from entering her head.

She got it now. She understood how both Leo and Paige could be driven to the point that they were at. She still couldn't imagine hurting her little boy or letting anyone else do it, but she understood how they could. If it had been anyone else besides her son she wouldn't even think twice about killing him. As it was, she wondered if she would feel differently about Wyatt if she actually knew Melinda.

Piper was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt another presence. She looked up and saw a dark haired man with brown eyes. "Hey. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Piper lied.

"You don't look fine. I'm Rick by the way," he said as he extended his hand to help her up.

Piper took his hand and let him pull her up. "Piper."

"Yeah, I know who you are. You're _his_ mother. Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of your eldest," Rick said.

"I can't blame you there," Piper said softly and her voice filled with emotion.

"Your other kids are a different story though. Your daughter was an amazing young woman and I have the utmost respect for your younger son," Rick told her.

Piper noted that he spoke of her other son in the present tense. That meant that whoever he was he was still alive. "Well, thank you. It's nice to know that I wasn't a complete failure as a mother."

"Look, I didn't know you, but I know both Paige and Cole well. They consider you to be an amazing mother. If think that than it must be true," Rick said.

"Your opinion of Cole and Paige must by high then," Piper commented.

"Are you kidding? They're our leaders. We would be nowhere without them."

"Okay, I get why Paige would be a leader, but why Cole?" Piper asked. Paige made sense because she was a Charmed One, but why Cole? Why would a demon become a leader of a resistance against evil?"

"Well, they started this place together. When their family was ripped open they had to find a way to protect what they had left," Rick explained.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say their family?" Piper asked. It sounded like Rick was telling her that Cole and Paige had a single family together. That wasn't possible, was it?

"Yeah, their family. I wasn't there when it happened, but from what I heard, they suffered numerous losses, including their son, Ben. He was only eleven when he was killed."

"_Their_ son?" Piper asked in disbelief. She knew that Cole had a son that was killed by Wyatt, but she didn't know that he was Paige's as well. She never would've guessed that. Now if Rick had said Phoebe was the kid's mother she would've believed it with minimal surprise, but not Paige. She hated him. Also, Cole was once married to Phoebe. She couldn't believe her sister would be with their other sister's ex-husband.

"Oh, you didn't know that. And I guess I wasn't supposed to tell you. Okay, I should go before I say anything else," Rick said before walking as fast as he could in the opposite direction and leaving Piper to deal with the revelation she'd just been handed.


	9. Chapter 9

Cole knocked on his daughter's door. He was hoping Paula would have some insight into where Paige was. He really didn't feel like searching the entire compound for her.

"Come in," Paula said.t

Cole opened the door. Paula was on her bed and looked like she'd been crying. He wasn't surprised. She and Melinda were very close. They were more like sisters than cousins. Hell, they were in every way that mattered. Melinda and Chris had lived with them since their mother's death. He and Paige loved them as though they were their own. "Hey, sweetie. Are you alright?"

"I miss her, Daddy. It's not fair," Paula cried.

Cole walked inside and sat down on the bed next to his daughter. "I know it's not, honey. None of this is."

Paula leaned into her father's arms and let him hold her. "Why does he have to take everyone? He already took Ben, the aunts and the girls. Now he's taken Melinda and he's taking you and Chris too."

"Honey, what are you talking about? I'm right here," Cole said.

"But you're leaving. You're going back with Chris and Aunt Piper. Though she's not Aunt Piper yet," Paula said.

"Your mother told you that?" Cole asked surprised. That wasn't like Paige. No matter how angry they were with each other, they never brought their children into it. No, Paula must have found out a different way.

"No. I heard Leo talking to Uncle Coop and Rick. They said you were going back to help Chris," Paula said.

Cole sighed. He probably should've seen that one coming. The news of him leaving was a big one. There was bound to be talk among the other members of the Resistance. "Look, you know how much I love you. You know that if I had a choice that I would stay here with you and your mom."

Paula nodded. "I know, Daddy. I know that you don't have a choice. I know you can't let Chris go in alone this time. Wyatt could send someone else after him and you need to be there to help him. As much as I want to, I can't be selfish and ask you to stay."

Cole smiled proudly. He knew his daughter would understand. She always did. Sure, she could be a handful and she was a lot of times, but she also had a selflessness that he could hardly imagine. "I knew you would. I want you to know that I'm going to do whatever it takes to come back." He wouldn't promise that he'd be back. He tried very hard to make promises he didn't know he could keep.

"When are you leaving?" Cole asked.

"When Chris' powers are returned probably," Cole said.

"That'll be soon then. Mom already came up with a spell to return Chris' powers," Paula said.

"Where is your mother? Have you seen her?" Cole asked. He was supposed it was time to get this over with. He had gotten Paula to understand why he had to go. Now for the hard part. Getting Paige to understand.

"I'm right here," Paige said from the doorway.

Cole turned to face her. "Hey."

"Hi. I think we need to talk," Paige said calmly.

Cole nodded and stood up. He followed her out of the room and closed the door behind him. They walked across the hall to their own room and walked inside. Cole closed the door once they were inside. "Look, Paige..."

"Just let me talk, okay? Piper was right. Our Piper not the one currently here right now," Paige said.

"What do you mean? Right about what?" Cole asked.

"She once told me that we sometimes learn more from our children than they learn from us. She was right. And what Paula said to just now was right too," Paige said.

"You heard all that?" Cole asked.

Paige nodded.

"You know I don't wanna go, right? I don't wanna leave you and Paula. And I certainly don't wanna go back to a time when you hated my guts," Cole said.

Paige grimaced at the message of her past self. She was not fond of the narrow-minded thinking she used back then. "I don't want you to go. You, Paula, and Chris are all I have left. The idea of losing two out of the three of you scares the hell out of me."

"I know," Cole said.

"But Paula was right. I can't be selfish right now. None of us can afford to be selfish here at all. So as much as I hate it and you for putting me in this position, I have to let you go," Paige said.

Cole pulled her into his arms. "I love you."

Paige hugged him back for a minute and then pulled away. "You can't go anywhere with that face. Your eyes will be scratched out the second you step out of the portal."

Cole chuckled. "I think I can manage to defend myself. But it would not bode well for the future if my past self observed me in the past." In 2004, he was in a cosmic void. He could watch everything the Halliwells did. If came back as himself, he would be exposing himself to... well, himself.

"We'll need to glamour you somehow. Actually, I have an idea."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, Cole, Paige, Chris, Piper, Leo, and Coop, plus a couple other Resistance members were in what they called the training room. Paula had opted not to be there. She'd said it would out Chris as a Halliwell if she said goodbye to Cole with everyone else because she'd already revealed herself as Chris' cousin and Piper now knew that Cole and Paige were married. So they said goodbye privately.

"Are we ready?" Cole asked. Chris had been given his powers back, so it was time for them to go back.

"I'm more than ready to get out of here. No offense," Piper said. She wanted to get back home and hold her baby. Once she did, she vowed to never let him go. She would not let this happen to him. She would not let it happen to any of them.

Paige turned to Cole. "Save our boy."

"I promise," Cole vowed. And he meant it. One way or the other, he would save their son's life.

"If you get killed, I swear to God I will kick your ass," Paige warned.

Cole snorted. "Right because I'm more likely to die in peaceful 2004 than in this warzone."

"Wait, you're coming with us?" Piper asked surprised.

Cole nodded. "I need to look after Chris."

"Cole, if you step one foot into the Manor, my sisters will fry you," Piper said.

"They won't know it's him. I put a spell on him. The people who can see who he really is are those who already know his identity," Paige said. It was actually a variation of a spell they'd all used many years ago when they decided they wanted a normal life.

"So then you want me to lie to them," Piper realized unhappily. She didn't like the idea of lying to her sisters.

"Yes. I would prefer to get the chance to marry my husband and have my children. That's not likely to happen if they find out the truth," Paige said.

"You're going to have to lie to them anyway Piper. They can't know about Wyatt. They won't accept it, especially not Leo," Chris said bitterly.

Piper sighed. "Alright."

"Okay, I don't really expect this to work, but if it does, Piper, I want you to blow my ass up if I'm not the father our children deserve," Leo said.

Piper smirked. "It will be my pleasure."

Cole meanwhile turned to Coop. "Hey, man. You and I have been through a lot together. If we were normal, there's no way in hell we'd ever be friends."

Coop shrugged. "Normal's overrated."

Cole chuckled. "Look after my family, will you, Coop?"

"I promise."

Cole shook his hand hugged him briefly before turning to Chris and Piper. "Alright let's go."

Chris chanted the time traveling spell and watched as the portal opened up. He, Piper, and Cole then walked through the portal and disappeared from view.


	10. Chapter 10

Back in 2004, Phoebe was pacing the attic floor while Paige was flipping the pages of the Book of Shadows.

"Would you quit doing that? You're making me even more nervous than I already am," Paige said.

Phoebe ignored her sister and continued to pace. "What the hell is taking Leo so long? It's been hours. I swear, if he doesn't get back here soon, we're going to the future without the damn Elders. I already have a spell ready."

Leo orbed down seconds later.

"Well?" Paige said.

Leo shook his head sadly. "The other Elders think it's too dangerous to send you to the future."

"Why the hell not? They did it before," Phoebe pointed out.

"That was different. Look, we have no idea what Chris' future is like. For all we know, going there could be like going to your deaths," Leo said.

"All the more reason not to leave Piper there," Paige said.

"You think I don't want to bring her home?" Leo asked. He wanted more than anything to bring Piper backed. He was scared out of his mind for her. But he also knew that getting the rest of them killed trying to save her wasn't going to help any.

Paige sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I know you want her to come home just as much as we do.

"Okay, enough is enough! If the damned Elders are going to be as useless as ever, we'll find our own way there. I have a spell ready to go," Phoebe said.

Just then Paige noticed a portal open up right behind Phoebe. "Whoa! Portal! Portal!"

Phoebe turned to see Piper walk out, followed by Chris and a man she didn't recognize. "Thank God."

Both sisters immediately went to hug her. "Are you okay?" Phoebe asked after letting go of her sister.

"What the hell were you thinking jumping into a stupid portal?" Paige asked.

"Where's Wyatt?" Piper asked completely ignoring her sisters. She needed her baby. She needed to hold him and know that he was okay.

"He's in your bedroom," Leo told her. "Piper, are you okay?

Piper ignored his question and immediately bolted from the room.

"Yeah, it was nice to see you too!" Phoebe called after her.

"Cut her some slack. She's had a rough couple of days," Cole said.

"Who are you?" Phoebe asked.

"Wait, did you just say a couple of days? It's been like three hours," Paige said.

"Time travel is complicated. What's just a couple of hours here could be days, weeks, and even months in the future. It all depends on the exact time you're taken back to," Cole explained.

Phoebe groaned. "Oh, time travel headache. But seriously, who are you?"

"My name's Matthew. Matthew Perry," Cole lied. He and Paige had devised a cover for him right before they went back. He was Matthew Perry, Chris' uncle. It wasn't a complete lie. The second part was certainly true.

"Perry? As in Chris?" Leo asked. This was the first he'd heard about Chris having any family. He'd just assumed the young whitelighter's family was dead. Then again, until today, he'd thought the kid was a full whitelighter, so that was a fair assumption.

"Yeah. I'm his uncle. His mother was my sister," Cole said. Again, not a complete lie. He did consider Piper like a sister.

"So that would make you his uncle on the witch side, right?" Phoebe asked bitterly. She was still pissed that Chris lied to them about being part witch.

"Something like that. And if you want to be angry at someone for Chris not telling you about his heritage, be angry at me. I told him not to tell you," Cole said. That was actually true. He and Paige had coached Chris on what to say and what not to say when he left. The half witch thing was one of them.

"You told him to lie to us? Why?" Paige asked.

"Because time traveling is a risky business. If you change too much, you could end up making it even worse. You could end up actually obliterating people from existence," Cole explained.

"He's right. I was given a very firm lecture about it before coming here, not that I needed it. This was always just going to be a surgical strike. I would save Wyatt and go home, hopefully without affecting much else," Chris said.

"Why do either of you even care about Wyatt?" Phoebe asked suspiciously. She then attempted to use her empathic ability on Matthew. She could never get anything off Chris, but maybe she could his uncle.

Cole chuckled. He knew what his ex-wife was doing right away. Even though they were divorced and he was married to her sister, he still always knew her like the back of his hand. "You're not going to get anything from me, Phoebe. I take an empath blocking potion."

"Uncle C... Mathew!" Chris chastised. He didn't understand why his uncle would admit something like that. Did he want them to distrust him?

"What? I'm not going to lie about it. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I prefer keeping my feelings to myself," Cole said.

Paige folded her eyes over her chest and eyed him suspiciously. "Why bother if you nothing to hide?"

Cole quirked an eyebrow at his future wife. "I don't know, Paige. Why do you take one?"

"H...How did you...? How...? Never mind. It's different. She was driving us nuts!" Paige said exasperatedly.

"Welcome to my world. My ex-wife was an empath. It was a bit creepy having her know my every feeling before I knew them myself," Cole said. "And I never said I had nothing to hide. I've got plenty to hide. But most of those things are either too dangerous to the future for you to know about or just none of your business."

"How do you expect us to trust you if you openly admit that you're hiding things from us?" Leo asked.

Cole chuckled. "Honestly, your trust doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot to me. I didn't come here to make friends. I came to try to prevent a chain of events that would destroy my family."

"So this is all about you then. You don't care about Wyatt," Phoebe said.

"No, I don't," Cole said honestly. He couldn't care less about Wyatt. There was a time when he did. There was a time when he loved Wyatt just as much as he did the rest of his family. That ended the day he'd murdered his son. "But you're wrong when you say this is just about me. It's not about any one person. What happens to Wyatt affects the entire world. Saving him is the only thing that'll save the rest of us."

"What does happen to him?" Leo asked.

"I can't answer that. And you should know better than to ask it. You're an Elder. You know the consequences of revealing too much future information," Cole said.

"I'm a father. My job is to protect my son. I'll risk anything for that," Leo said powerfully. Matthew was right when he said he knew better as an Elder, but as a father, he didn't much care.

Cole felt a pang hit his heart. He knew all too well what it meant to want to stop something bad from happening to your son. That was a huge chunk of the reason he was in the past after all. "I can appreciate that. It doesn't change anything though. I can't tell you what happens to Wyatt. And not just because of future consequences. I don't fully know what happens to him."

"You know more than we do," Phoebe said. "Why are you here anyway? Why did you come back with Chris and Piper?"

"To make sure that what happened with Bianca doesn't happen again. Chris can't go back to the future until it's changed. Also, another person to help can't hurt, right?" Cole asked. While that certainly wasn't the only reason he was back, he certainly wasn't going to disclose the other reason. That was guaranteed to get him lynched.

"Piper knows what happens to Wyatt, doesn't she?" Leo asked. He'd seen the look on her face when she'd rushed to be with Wyatt. She was devastated.

"She knows the gist. She knows that this danger has to be taken seriously. She's seen what'll happen if it's not. Do not ask her about it though," Cole said in a commanding tone.

"Or what?" Phoebe challenged. She never responded well at being ordered around, especially by someone she'd known less than an hour.

"Or be prepared to be disappointed," Chris answered. "Piper knows she can't tell you anything."

"Look, I know this is hard for all of you. I know it has to be torture not knowing what happens and being forced to take a backseat to a couple of strangers. But this is serious. The threat to Wyatt cannot be taken lightly," Cole said.

"And it won't be."

They all turned to see Piper standing in the doorway with Wyatt on her hip. "Piper, are you okay?" Leo asked.

Piper ignored his question and walked over to Cole and Chris. "Chris, we haven't been overly helpful to you during these last few months. We've complained about the demon hunts and we've blown you off on many occasions. That ends today. I will do whatever it takes to help the two of you end this. I wanna thank you both for coming here. For being willing to help my son."

"You actually trust them?" Phoebe asked in shock. She didn't trust either of them one bit. Chris had lied to them too much and Matthew reminded her of somebody. She couldn't put her finger on who, but he reminded her of somebody and it made her very nervous.

"I do. They've both lost a lot and have given a lot for this cause. I'll do whatever it takes to help them and to prevent that future from ever happening," Piper said. She shuddered just at the thought of the future she'd just visited.

"What happened?" Leo asked. He couldn't help but ask it. Whatever had happened in the future had affected Piper greatly.

"I can't tell you that, Leo. And believe me when I tell you, you don't wanna know anyway," Piper said seriously. Leo didn't need what she'd just seen in his head. Hell, she didn't even want it in her head.

"So then you're okay with us coming around then?" Chris asked.

"That's more than okay. You two are welcome whenever you want and you can stay at the club until this is finished as well," Piper said.

"Thanks. I guess we should go and let you get reacquainted with your sisters," Chris said before taking his uncle's arm and orbing them out.


	11. Chapter 11

A couple of days later, Cole and Chris were in the back room of the club with a list of demons Cole had come up for possible threats on Wyatt. "Wow. I've never even heard of some of these demons," Chris said.

Cole chuckled. "Well, having a demon upbringing does have its advantages. The problem is I'm not sure anyone of these demons could've pulled it off. Not just anyone can get around the Charmed Ones without being detected.

"Well, they do get distracted easily. I can't tell you how many times they've put their Wiccan duties on hold to deal with their personal lives," Chris said in frustration.

Cole shook his head. "No, this didn't happen because they were distracted. There's no distraction big enough to keep the sisters from protecting their kids. There must be something else to it."

Just then, orbs filled the room revealing Leo, who did not look too happy.

"Leo? What are you doing here?" Chris asked.

"What the hell happened to Piper in the future?" Leo demanded to know.

"I'm starting to think you like hearing the phrase 'future consequences'," Cole commented.

Leo ignored the comment. "Piper's going around like a madwoman. She's making potion after potion, writing spell after spell, and she even made a list of demons from the book that she thinks could be after Wyatt. She's like on a demon killing spree right now."

"Good," Cole said pleased. He was glad to see that Piper had been true to her word and was taking this all so seriously.

"Excuse me?" Leo asked as though he didn't hear.

"I said 'good'. It seems at least one of you understands the gravity of the situation," Cole said.

"No, this is not Piper. She doesn't chase after demons. Not when she's thinking clearly anyway," Leo quickly added. She did on occasion go after demons. The aftermath of Prue's death was a prime example. "Piper prefers not to deal with demons at all. She would rather be working at the club or home taking care of Wyatt and taking care of the house. She treasures a normal life."

"Is there a point somewhere in there?" Cole asked in a bored tone. He had no interest in any of this. He already knew all of it and all Leo was doing was keeping him from working to save the future.

Leo glared. "My point is that something needs to give. Piper can't go on like this."

"Like what? Trying to save her child? I fail to see what the problem is. I would think that as Wyatt's father, you'd be just as motivated to find the threat," Cole said.

"Well, maybe it would help if you told me what that threat is," Leo said. Honestly, he wasn't completely convinced there was a threat. All he had was the word of Chris and his uncle on that and he didn't exactly trust them.

Chris groaned. "What part of 'future consequences' aren't you understanding, Leo. We can't tell you! It's too dangerous to our future."

"Yet not too dangerous for you to tell Piper," Leo commented.

"Piper jumped through a portal and fell smack dab in the middle of our world. We physically couldn't keep it from her," Cole said. "Look, I don't blame you for not trusting us. I wouldn't trust us if I were you either. But the fact remains that there is an evil out there that would like nothing better than to get its hands on your son. Now if it were my son, whether I trusted the informant or not, I'd take it seriously. So why don't you stop complaining and start helping us save your son?"

"Okay, say there is a threat. How do I know the threat isn't you?" Leo asked.

Cole groaned and rubbed his forehead. He thought he was done dealing with Leo the idiot when he'd managed to get the future version of him to face the truth about Wyatt. He should've known when he went into the past that this crap would happen. Though he supposed in a way that Leo wasn't completely wrong. He did still have that backup plan to kill Wyatt and stop his future from ever happening.

"This is insane. We come back here to save your son and you accuse us?" Chris asked angrily.

Cole put a restraining hand on Chris' shoulder. "Calm down."

Leo eyed Chris suspiciously. "So defensive. You know defensiveness is a sign of a guilty conscience."

Cole glared at Leo. "Okay, you wanna have it out with me, that's fine, you do your worst, but you leave my nephew alone."

"I'm going to find out what the two of you are hiding. That's a promise," Leo said before orbing out.

"Well, that was productive," Chris said sarcastically.

Cole chuckled. "Come on, let's get back to it," he said before looking back at his list.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Leo orbed into the living room of the manor to find Phoebe and Paige there. Phoebe was holding Wyatt. "Hey, how is she?"

"Still as crazy as when you left," Paige said.

"Paige don't call our sister crazy," Phoebe said disapprovingly.

"Are you going to say this isn't crazy behavior? Especially for Piper. Come on, since when does Piper hunt demons?" Paige asked. For as long as she knew her, Piper had never willingly gone after demons. Well, other than that small meltdown right after Prue died.

"Paige is right. Piper isn't thinking clearly. Whatever happened in the future is eating away at her. We need to find out what happened," Leo said.

"Well, good luck with that. Only three people know that and none of them are talking," Paige said.

"Yeah, and the other two think this is the best thing that could possibly happen," Leo said angrily.

"Huh?" Paige asked.

Leo sighed. "I went to see Chris and Matthew. I explained the situation. They're pretty much ecstatic that Piper is on such a demon killing high. They think we should all follow her example."

"Don't they realize that this isn't Piper?" Phoebe asked. That was what bugged her the most. If this had been Paige, or even Prue when she was still alive, it wouldn't worry her so much because it was in their nature to go looking for evil sometimes. Piper was different. She avoided demons and magic whenever possible.

"I don't think they care," Leo said.

Just then Piper came down with a bunch of potions. "Oh, Leo, good. Can you watch Wyatt while we go out."

"You mean while you go hunting for demons? Piper, this is a mistake. Don't do this," Leo pleaded.

Piper put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "Don't do what? Try and protect our child?"

"You can't protect Wyatt by getting yourself killed. That's what you're doing. There is a reason why it's a bad idea to go looking for demons," Leo said.

"Look, Leo, I don't want to fight with you. I am going to do what I have to do to protect our son. Now are you going to watch him or not?" Piper asked impatiently.

Leo sighed. "Of course."

"Good," Piper said before turning to her sisters. "Let's go."

Phoebe handed Wyatt over to Leo and then took her sisters' hands. The three of them then orbed out.


	12. Chapter 12

Piper was in the kitchen with Wyatt when Cole shimmered in. She was sitting at the table feeding him. "You are damn lucky no one is yet to hear you."

Cole scoffed. "Oh, please, I made sure the coast was clear before coming in. Besides, neither Paige nor Phoebe would willingly get up before ten on a Saturday."

Piper snorted. "I guess you would know, huh?"

Cole cracked a smile. "Very funny."

Piper smiled back. "So what are you doing here?"

"I thought we should coordinate. You and your sisters seemed to have obliterated half the demons on my list," Cole said. He'd tried to go after at least three or four demons on his list only to have them already be vanquished.

"Isn't that a good thing? Isn't the point to take out any and all threats against Wyatt?" Piper asked.

"Oh, believe me; I'm not complaining about your new found attitude towards demon fighting. It's just that you're leaving me with nothing to do," Cole said smirking.

Piper laughed. "I'm sure you can think of something. Look, I promised that I would do everything in my power to help you and I meant that. I won't let it happen. I won't let my baby become something so despicable."

Cole glanced over at Baby Wyatt. "You know, seeing him like this almost makes me forget what he is." He really had to be careful about that. He couldn't allow himself to forget what this child would become, especially if he had to do the unthinkable and actually kill him.

"What he could be," Piper corrected. Her sweet little boy was not that monster from the future yet, and if she had her way, he never would be.

Cole shrugged. "Tomato, tomado."

"You know you were evil once too," Piper pointed out defensively. She knew that Cole had a right to his feelings regarding Wyatt, but she couldn't help but defend her son. It was her job as his mother to do so.

"On my worst day, I couldn't be one tenth as bad him. I know he's your son and you have to defend him, but he cost me _my_ son. It's hard for me to feel anything but contempt for him, even now," Cole said.

"I get that," Piper said. If the situation was reversed, she'd probably feel the same way. She'd hate anyone who took her child away too. Cole's hatred for Wyatt was justified, no matter how hard it was for her to see and hear about.

"No, you don't and I hope you never do. It's a feeling I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. There's nothing in this world that hurts more than losing a child. It makes you wanna kill yourself," Cole said. He'd wanted to die so many times after Ben had. The only thing that kept him going was the rest of his family. They'd needed him to stay strong.

"I'm sorry. But I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure we stop that from happening," Piper promised.

Cole cleared his throat and decided to change the subject. "You know your family thinks you're losing your mind. Leo came by the other day. He wasn't happy about the demon hunts you've been orchestrating ."

"Yeah, nobody really is, but that's too bad. I'm going to do what I have to do to save my son," Piper said firmly.

"I applaud you for that. Chris and I need all the help we can get in fixing this," Cole said.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. I just can't guarantee I'll answer," Cole warned.

"I know why you're doing this. Because saving my family and yours go hand in hand. They're one of the same. You care about everyone in this family except Wyatt," Piper said.

"Well, I don't really care all that much for Leo either," Cole commented. He and Leo had recently started working together in the future, but that didn't mean he liked him. He just tolerated him because he was a help to the Resistance. He also had some compassion for him after Melinda's death because he knew how it felt to lose a child, but he would never forget abysmal way he treated Chris and Melinda when they were children.

Piper ignored his comment. "But why Chris? What does he get out of saving Wyatt? Even if they were friends growing up, it doesn't explain why he's willing to give up everything to protect him."

"Who told you they were friends?" Cole wondered.

"Bianca."

"Ever consider the source?" Cole asked.

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Bianca had no reason to lie about something like that."

"True. I can't tell you much, but I will say that Chris and Wyatt were inseparable as children. They had a bond that was possibly even bigger than the one you have with your sisters," Cole told her.

"Was he that close with my other son too?" Piper asked. She wanted to hear more about her second son. She'd heard such good things about him from that Rick guy, but she hadn't gotten to see him or hear much about him.

Cole frowned. "How did you…?"

"I overheard some conversations, remember?" Piper asked.

"Right. Look, I can't tell you anything about him. You shouldn't even know what you do," Cole said. Though he was fully prepared to tell her exactly who Chris was if it came down to that to get him conceived.

"But he's good, right?" Piper asked. She'd heard it from Rick, but she wanted to hear it from someone she trusted. She wasn't sure exactly when Cole became someone she trusted, but somehow it had.

Cole smiled. "Yeah, he's very good. He's just like you."

Piper smiled back. "Really?"

"Really. And that's as much as I'm going to say," Cole said firmly.

Just then Paige came in. She stopped and narrowed her eyes at Piper and Cole. "Oh, no. No way! I am not going demon hunting today. It's not happening!"

Cole and Piper both started laughing simultaneously. "Calm down. He's not here to organize a demon hunt," Piper assured her sister.

"Oh, good," Paige said before going over to the coffee pot.

"I better go. You guys may not be going demon hunting, but I am," Cole said. He had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.

"Don't you people ever sleep?" Paige asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "It's like you and Chris are always going after some demon or another."

Cole grimaced. "Sleep isn't the novelty it is for you, Paige."

Piper cringed. She knew what he meant. She had serious nightmares from her time in the future. She could only imagine how bad it was for Cole and Chris.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys later," Cole said. He went out the back door. He couldn't leave the way he came because Paige would flip out if he did.

Once he was gone, Paige turned to Piper. "Does he remind you someone?"

"Like who?" Paige asked.

"I don't know. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like I should know him. It's conflicting though. A part of me feels like I shouldn't like or trust him, but the other part of feels strangely intrigued, and, well, to put it bluntly, kind of turned on," Paige explained.

Piper started laughing loudly at her sister's expense. If she only knew.

"What?" Paige asked. She was obviously totally missing the joke because she had no idea what she said that was so funny.

"Nothing," Piper said as she continued to laugh.

"What?" Paige asked again.

"Nothing. I gotta go," Piper said before picking up Wyatt and quickly leaving the room.


	13. Chapter 13

Leo orbed into the Manor and found Phoebe and Paige lounging on the couch. "Hey. Where's Piper?"

"Where do you think? She's upstairs combing the book. Like she's been doing every day for the last month," Phoebe said. At least that was where she assumed she was. She was really starting to get worried about her older sister. This was just so unlike Piper. She hated fighting demons. She preferred to live life without magic and just be normal.

"Actually, she's at the club with Matthew and Chris. They're going over possible threats," Paige said. She'd gotten home before Phoebe, so she knew exactly where she was.

"We have a problem," Leo said.

"What's up," Phoebe asked as she and Paige both sat up straight.

"A bunch of demons have been vanquished lately and the Elders think that another demon is responsible," Leo said. Whoever had done it left behind scorch marks, which suggested another demon.

Paige blinked. "So? Demons are killing each other. That just makes our job easier."

Leo sighed. "It's not that simple, Paige. Demons don't go around mass murdering demons for no reason. Whoever is doing this has an agenda. Anyway, there's a more alarming element here."

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"The attacks coincide with Piper returning here with Chris and Matthew," Leo said.

Paige scoffed. "Oh, come on, Leo. Don't you think you're being a little paranoid here."

"How do you explain it?" Leo asked.

"Coincidence," Paige said.

"No such thing in this line of business," Phoebe said. She was with Leo. She didn't trust Matthew, or Chris all that much for that matter. Matthew left her with a feeling of déjà vu and Chris had lied to them way too many times.

"Okay, but we know Chris isn't a demon. He's part witch, part whitelighter. And Matthew is his uncle, so he can't be a demon," Paige said.

"All we have is their word for any of that. For all we know, Chris stole the orbing power and lied about being part witch," Leo said.

"He's right. It is possible. Come on, Paige, can you honestly say you trust Matthew?" Phoebe asked.

"No, but I don't distrust him either," Paige said. Honestly she wasn't sure how she felt about Matthew. She knew she felt some kind of connection to him, but she also got a dangerous vibe that made it hard for her to trust him. She was sure that he wasn't a danger to her though. That's why she found it hard to believe that he was a demon. "Look, my instincts tell me that he doesn't want to hurt us."

"Your instincts or your hormones?" Leo asked.

"Leo!" Phoebe chastised. That had really been uncalled for. He didn't need to take it to that level.

"What? I think we've all seen the way she looks at him and vice versa," Leo said.

Paige glared at her brother-in-law. "If you've seen me look at Matthew in any way, it's wonder. Yeah, I admit it, I feel a connection to him. I feel like I'm linked to him somehow and I'm just trying to figure it out!"

"Linked how?" Phoebe wondered.

"I don't know. I can't explain it. He feels familiar to me," Paige said.

"He feels familiar to me too, but that familiarity makes me distrust him," Phoebe said.

"Ever think that feeling might be that he's a demon?" Leo interjected.

Paige finally stood up. "Okay, you know what? You wanna know if he's a demon? How about we just go ask him?" Paige asked.

"Right because demons don't lie. He's not going to tell us if he is a demon," Phoebe said.

Leo smirked after a second. "He will if he has a little incentive to."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cole and Piper were sitting on the couch going through the list of demons. Cole pointed to a name. "He has a reputation for going after young witches when they're first coming into their powers to convert them."

"So he's a definite possible. We should take care of him first," Piper said.

Cole nodded. "You and your sisters will have to take him. It requires the Power of Three."

Just then orbs filled the room, revealing Phoebe and Paige.

"Hey. What are you guys doing here?" Piper asked.

"We're here for answers," Phoebe said, unable to stop herself. "Where's Chris?"

"Underworld. He's looking for new threats," Cole said.

"Is there really a threat to Wyatt?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes. A very dangerous one," Cole said. He then frowned. He'd intended to answer that question with a sarcastic comment, but he'd felt compelled at answer honestly.

"Are you that threat?" she questioned.

"I could be," Cole answered unable to stop himself.

"What?" Piper asked in shock.

Cole stood up and narrowed his eyes at the other two sisters. "What the hell'd you do to me?"

Phoebe ignored his question. "What do you mean you could be?"

"I mean that if I can't save him, I will do what I have to do to stop him," Cole said. Once again, he'd been unable to stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

"You didn't tell me that," Piper said as she glared at him.

Cole looked at Piper. "Do you really expect anything less from me after what you saw?"

"What did you see, Piper?" Phoebe asked. It wasn't their original intention for casting the spell, but she wanted to know the answer.

"I saw what my son grows up to see. I saw him work with demons. I also saw what was left of my daughter after he killed her," Piper said against her will.

Phoebe and Paige stared at their sister in horror. It couldn't be true, could it? But then how could it not be? They'd cast the Truth Spell. That caused truthful answers to questions.

It didn't take much for Cole to realize what had happened. They'd cast the damn truth spell. That was the only explanation for them answering questions they wouldn't have before. "They cast the Truth Spell. We've gotta get out of here."

"How do you know about the Truth Spell?" Phoebe asked suspiciously. That was a family spell. No one knew about it but family.

"Because I know this family like the back of my hand," Cole said.

"Alright, let's get out of here now," Piper said as she grabbed Cole by the arm. She was still disturbed by what she'd learned of Cole's plan for her son, but they had to get out of there before anything else was revealed.

Cole immediately shimmered them away, leaving the sisters there in shock.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," Paige said surprised. She'd really thought she was right about Matthew not being evil.

"She went with him. She knew what he was and she went with him," Phoebe said in shock. She just couldn't understand that. How could her sister willingly go with a demon?

"Let's just get back to Leo. We need to tell him what we found out. It's gonna kill him," Paige said. Finding out that Wyatt actually turned evil in the future would destroy him. Hell, she didn't know how she was dealing with it. She couldn't picture that sweet little boy turning into the monster that Piper described.

"Okay, let's go," Phoebe said before grabbing her sister's hand. The two of them then quickly orbed out.


	14. Chapter 14

No! No way! That's a lie!" Leo said as he paced the floor. Phoebe and Paige had just told him what they'd learned from Piper and Matthew. He wouldn't believe it though. His sweet little boy evil? No way in hell. It was a trick it had to be.

"And how do you figure that, Leo? First of all, it came from Piper, and second of all, they can't lie. That was the whole point of the Truth Spell," Paige said. She didn't want to believe it either, but what choice did they have? The Truth Spell left it impossible for them to live in denial.

"No. Piper must have been tricked into thinking that. She believes it, but it's not true. The spell is mental. It forces people to say what they _believe_ is the truth. That's how she was able to say that," Leo reasoned.

"Leo, she said she saw him. She said she _saw_ what Wyatt becomes," Phoebe told him.

Leo shook his head. "No. I don't believe it."

"Because, you don't want to. You think we want to believe it? We love Wyatt too. We would never want to believe something like this about him. But it's hard to disprove given the circumstances," Paige said.

"My son is not evil!" Leo yelled.

Phoebe put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, why don't we just drop this for now? We've got more pressing concerns right now. We need to get Piper back and fast. God only knows what that evil son of a bitch could do to her."

"And you're sure she knew he was a demon?" Leo asked.

"Definitely. She knew how he was going to get them out of there. She took his hand expecting him to shimmer her out. I just don't understand why," Phoebe said. For the life of her, she couldn't understand what was going through her sister's head. She realized that Piper had seen a lot of changes in the future, but demons no longer meaning bad couldn't be one of them.

"We need to get her back here. Summon her," Paige said.

"No, that's not a good idea. We have no idea how powerful Matthew is or how to vanquish him. We should talk to Chris first. We can get more out of him and make him tell us how to get Piper back," Leo said.

Phoebe nodded. "That's a good idea. Chris!"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cole shimmered himself and Piper to the mausoleum. Once there, he angrily slammed his hands down on the crypt in the middle of the room. "Damn it!"

"Okay, calm down," Piper said.

"Calm down. That's easy for you to say. I can't believe she'd do this to me," Cole said with hurt laced in his voice. It was obvious that he meant Paige.

"Cole, she doesn't know who you are. You're a stranger to her right now. If she knew… Well, actually, she'd probably do worse," Piper said.

Cole looked at her. "Is this your way of trying to make me feel better?"

"You know I honestly don't know if I wanna make you feel better. You just admitted to plotting my son's murder," Piper said. Now that the immediate danger of revealing anything else to her sisters was over, it was time for Cole to explain himself. If he thought she was going to stand by and let him kill her baby, he had another thing coming.

Cole sighed. "Piper, that was a last ditch, if I absolutely had to, plan. You gotta understand something. Above all else, I am a father. My kids come before everything and everyone else, even Paige. Now my son died because of yours. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. I will save my son no matter what the cost."

"And I will save mine," Piper said. She did understand. She understood all too well what it meant to be a parent, and just like Cole she would do what was necessary to protect her child. She didn't want to fight Cole, but she would.

Cole nodded. He got her message loud and clear. If the time ever came, they would be fighting each other. "Understood."

"So what now? We revealed a lot. They know about Wyatt and they know you're a demon because you shimmered," Piper said.

Cole rubbed his forehead. "Damn spell. Okay, if I know Phoebe and Paige, and I do, the first thing they're going to do is go to Leo and tell him what happened."

Piper nodded. "Then they're going to try to summon us." Normally she'd understand that. They had watched her willingly leave with a demon. That would certainly make her sisters worry. However, she couldn't bring herself to feel one once of sympathy for them right now. They'd violated her trust and cast a spell that would force her to reveal secrets that were not even hers to reveal. They had absolutely no right.

"No, they'll try Chris first. He doesn't know about the spell yet, so they'll try to get him to reveal more," Cole said. He knew that Leo would definitely pull something like that anyway.

"Well, then we need to get to him first. Chris!" Piper called.

Orbs filled the room seconds later and turned into Chris. "Hey, what's up? And why are we in the mausoleum?"

"We have a problem. Phoebe and Paige apparently don't understand the phrase 'Future Consequences'. They cast the Truth Spell and then showed up at the club to interrogate us," Cole explained.

"What?" Chris growled. This was just great. Just when he thought things were better now that Piper trusted him, something like this happens. "How much do they know?"

"They know about Wyatt and they know Cole is a demon because they shimmered him us out of there before anything else was spilled," Piper said.

Chris breathed a small sigh of relief. They didn't know about him. That was good. They still knew way more than he wanted them to though. He never wanted them to know about Wyatt. Mostly because he knew they wouldn't believe him and would make things harder for them. But he supposed with his mother now in his corner it would be okay. "Somebody needs to erase that damn spell from the book. Now we have to find a way to steer clear of them for twenty-four hours."

"That's easier said than done. I know my sisters. They're going to summon me, especially after watching how I left," Piper said.

"Well, there's not really all that much for you to tell. Chris and I have to stay clear though. I think the best way for that is for you to just go back and try to evade any questions so they don't try to summon us," Cole said.

Chris suddenly looked up at the ceiling for a minute. "They're calling me. It won't be long before they summon me."

Cole nodded. "We don't have a choice."

"What if they ask me about you? I could end up revealing your identity," Piper said.

"You'll just have to find a way around it. It shouldn't be that difficult. The spell only stipulates that you have to tell the truth. If they ask you about me, just tell them something about me that is true. If you must, say that I'm your brother-in-law. Just avoid using my name," Cole said. He didn't really like them knowing that either, but it was better than it would be if he was mentioned by name.

Piper nodded. "Alright. Chris, you wanna give me a lift to my car?"

Chris nodded and grabbed his mother's hand. He then orbed them both out.


	15. Chapter 15

"Chris, come on already!" Phoebe called angrily. She'd been calling him for about fifteen minutes now and there was still nothing.

"Okay, he's obviously not going to come. Matthew probably got to him already. We should summon him," Leo said.

"Don't even think about it!" an angry voice said from behind them.

They all turned to see a really pissed off Piper.

"You leave Chris alone. You've done enough," Piper said before walking away from them and towards the kitchen.

The others quickly followed her. "Piper are you…"

"Don't you even think of asking me a question!" Piper growled at her ex-husband. She then went to the refrigerator and grabbed a jug of ice water. She poured herself a glass and then put it away.

"I just wanted to know if you were alright," Leo asked.

Piper slammed her glass down causing them all to flinch. "Am I okay? No, Leo, I am not okay. I am pissed off! What the hell is wrong with you people. Do you have concept of personal boundaries? Forget that you used magic for your own selfish needs and forget that the information you managed to obtain might make the future worse than it already is. You betrayed _my_ trust."

"We betrayed your trust? Piper, you have been working with a demon! You brought a demon into our lives and you expected us to trust him," Phoebe shot back.

Piper gave her sister an incredulous look. "I have got one word for you, Phoebe. Cole!"

Phoebe couldn't help but flinch. "That's different."

Actually, it wasn't in Piper's opinion. It was exactly the same. Phoebe had lied about Cole and now she was lying about Cole. Exactly the same. "Really? How?"

"I didn't know that he was a demon when I brought him into our lives," Phoebe said.

"But you found out and you still wanted him in our lives. But you know something, you're right. There is a difference. You asked us to trust him. I couldn't at first, but I trusted _you._ Why couldn't you give me the same courtesy? I never asked you to trust Matthew. I asked you to trust me," Piper said.

"Piper, it wasn't about not trusting you. Look, Leo made a pretty convincing case for Matthew being the demon behind a bunch of vanquishes. We cast the spell to find out if he was right," Phoebe explained.

"Which I was," Leo piped up. "He's a demon, Piper. He's evil."

Piper rolled his eyes. "Tell me, Leo, what makes him evil. That he wants to save our son? The fact that he helped save me and Chris?" Okay, so she didn't know if Cole was physically involved with their rescue in the future, but he and Paige ran the organization that saved them, so he was responsible.

"Our son doesn't need saving," Leo said. He still wouldn't believe that Wyatt was evil. It wasn't possible. Matthew and Chris were evil and they had somehow managed to trick Piper.

Piper shook her head. "No. Sorry, you don't get to do that. You don't get to force the truth out of us and then deny it because you don't like what you hear. You wanted the truth and now you have it. Deal with it."

"So it's true then? Wyatt's evil in the future?" Paige asked.

"No!" Leo yelled as if he thought that if he said it enough times it would turn out to be true.

Piper shook her head in disbelief. "Your know your refusal to believe Wyatt is evil is quite ironic considering that in the future, you refuse to believe he's anything but."

Leo's eyes grew with shock and horror. "What?"

Piper was unmoved by her ex-husband's expression. She had no sympathy for him right now. If it was the truth he wanted, he was going to get it. "That's right, Leo. You hate Wyatt in the future. You want him dead."

"No," Leo denied. That couldn't be true. He loved his son. He would never hurt him.

"Yeah. I believe your exact words were 'that thing is not my son'. And that was the nicest thing you said about him. You wanted to kill him. You wanted to come back here and kill our child as a baby. Paige wasn't much better. She wanted him dead too. Though given the circumstances, I can't blame her," Piper said.

Paige opened her mouth to speak, but Piper interrupted her. "Don't! Do not ask me that question because I guarantee you, you do not want to know."

Paige immediately closed her mouth. She was actually pretty certain that her sister was right about that. She got the feeling that it was even worse than what they'd learned about Wyatt. Anything worse than that, she didn't want to know about.

"Okay, even if it's true about Wyatt, it still doesn't explain about Matthew. Why do you trust him so much?"

"Because he's the only one, aside from Chris, that believed my son was worth saving," Piper said. True, he had planned for the event that Wyatt couldn't be saved, but he was still more reasonable than anyone else in the future and he had every reason not to be.

"How do you even know that anything he's told you is true? For all you know he and Chris have been lying to you. They are demons after all," Leo said.

"Oh for God's sake, Leo. Chris is not a demon. Hello. Have you not seen him orbing around," Piper asked.

"But he's Matthew's nephew and Matthew is a demon," Phoebe said.

Piper sighed. "First of all, he's only half demon. He's human too."

"But he's still a demon," Phoebe said. It didn't really matter how much demon was in him. Demon was demon. They were all evil. She'd learned that with Cole.

"And so was that manicore baby we found, remember? Yet he's not evil," Piper said.

"Okay, she's got a point there," Paige said. She couldn't deny that there was some sense in her sister's words, and she had said before that Matthew hadn't seemed evil before. Maybe that still held true. She didn't know why she wanted to believe that it did so much, but she did.

"And what about that warlock that Prue helped all those years ago. He had evil inside him too, but he chose to fight it. Goodness in demons doesn't happen very often, but it has. Now I trust Matthew. Right now I trust him more than I trust any of you," Piper said. She then left the room without another word.


	16. Chapter 16

A couple of days later, Piper was in the kitchen preparing lunch for Wyatt when Chris orbed in. "Hey. You're late. I expected one of you sometime yesterday."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure there was no trace of the spell left before I dared come here. How'd it go?" Chris asked.

"It was alright. They didn't ask me anything else about the future. Leo was too busy trying to deny the truth about Wyatt and my sisters were too busy trying to get me to believe that the two of you are evil to the core," Piper explained. After that, they hadn't spoken much. She'd only spoken to them if she absolutely had to since their big fight.

Chris shook his head in disbelief. "Unbelievable. They use the Truth Spell on us and Leo still refuses to believe it?"

"Well, I can't completely condemn him for that. I didn't want to believe it either," Piper said. While she was incredibly angry at her ex-husband, she did understand why he was in denial. She wished she could be in denial too. But she couldn't and neither could Leo. They all had to accept the truth.

"Yeah, but you did. You accepted it. Leo's going around condemning us. Like we're the bad ones here," Chris said defensively.

"Chris, calm down," Piper said. She wasn't sure why he was so upset by Leo's disbelief. Why did he care so much if Leo believed him? Yes, Leo seemed to care a great deal for Chris in the future, but that was just because Chris and Wyatt were close, wasn't it. Was there something she was missing here?"

Chris sighed. "Sorry. I guess I'm just so used to Leo in the future. He had the same denial then too."

"Well, that obviously changed," Piper said. The Leo from the future that she'd met had no delusions as to what Wyatt was. He hated Wyatt with a passion. So much so that it made a little less trustful of the present version of him with Wyatt.

"Yeah, but it took him years. And I don't even know how it happened. When I left the first time, he still refused to believe it," Chris said. He knew his aunt and uncle must have done something big to cause the transformation in his father. The man had done a complete on-eighty.

"Well, let's hope it doesn't take him years this time," Piper said. She wouldn't let that happen. Leo was going to have to face the truth whether he liked it or not. There was no way in hell she was going to let her ex's stubbornness be the cause of their family's downfall.

"Yeah, here's hoping. Well, I better go. I've got demons to hunt," Chris said.

"Yeah, same here as soon as Leo gets back to watch Wyatt," Piper said.

Chris smiled and then orbed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cole entered the back room of the club and found Phoebe, Paige, and Leo waiting for him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I plan a party and forget about it."

"Why are you here?" Phoebe asked coldly.

Cole immediately noticed that he did not feel the compulsion to answer honestly as he had the last time they'd spoken. "Huh. So no spell to help you out this time?"

"Answer her question," Leo demanded.

"I don't owe you anything. Especially not after the last stunt you pulled," Cole said as he took off his jacket.

Phoebe laughed. "You're really gonna lecture us on ethics? You're a demon."

"And that automatically means I'm evil, right? Demons are evil and Witches are good, right? No gray area?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Phoebe told him.

Cole chuckled. "Well, that's rich coming from you, Your former Majesty."

Phoebe gawked at him. It wasn't hard for him to figure out his meaning. He was talking about her time as queen of the Underworld. "How the hell do you know about that?"

"Oh, come on. You are a Charmed One who helped rule the Underworld weeks. Every magical being in history knows about that. And let me let you in on something you don't know. They trust you less because of it," Cole told her with a smirk. He couldn't help it. He was feeling more than a little vindictive right now

Phoebe turned to Leo. "Is that true?"

Leo shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe a little. It's just that they think you're a little too susceptible to demonic temptations."

"But it wasn't my fault, it was Cole's," Phoebe argued.

Cole chuckled a little, causing Phoebe to turn back to him. "Please. No one held a gun to your head. No one even asked you to do it. You chose to stand by the side of evil of your own free will, which is more than can be said for Cole Turner."

"What the hell would you know about it?" Phoebe asked coldly.

Cole gave her a smile. "Oh, I'd say I know more than just about anybody. Care for me to clue you in?" Okay, so he was a little bitter. Maybe it was because he was in the past and forced with a very narrow-minded version of his ex-wife/sister-in-law, but he had a very big urge to blow her version of the past between them wide-open.

"Like I need you for that. I was there," Phoebe said glaring. The last thing she wanted was to take a stroll down memory lane with some demon she'd only known for a month.

"No, you weren't. You didn't realize the truth until months later. And even then, you didn't wait for an explanation. You just vanquished your husband without giving any thought into what happened to him," Cole said.

"Why don't you enlighten us then?" Leo asked.

"I'd be glad to," Cole said before turning back to Phoebe. "It started the day you were attacked by the source. Your then fiancée was human at the time. Well, actually he wasn't. He was born a demon. You don't just stop being a demon because your powers are taken away. I mean, think about it. Did you stop being witches when the Source took away your powers? He was still a demon. He was just powerless."

Phoebe stared at him. She never knew that. She thought when she stripped Cole of his powers that he really was human. Though she supposed Matthew was right. You couldn't just cast away what you were born as.

"Anyway, I'm getting off track. Where was I? Ah, yes, the Source. Now the Source had taken away your powers with the Hollow. He was about to kill you all. Then Cole Turner came and absorbed the Source's power with the Hollow. He saved your lives," Cole said. He knew he was changing the future a little by telling them all this now, but not enough to cause any real problems, and if it could give them some perspective now, so be it.

"He also destroyed them," Paige said. She made no secret of her hatred for Cole Turner. He'd ruined all their lives when he became the Source.

"Did he? Are you sure of that? No, don't answer that yet. Let me finish my story and then you can decide who was to blame for what," Cole said. He had no delusions that he was responsible for hurting the Charmed Ones quite a few times before his last vanquish, but there were also things that were not his fault.

"Go on," Paige said. She did want to hear this. She couldn't think of one thing that could excuse the evil Cole did, but if Matthew thought there was, she wanted to hear about it.

"Thank you. Now as I was saying, Cole took in the Hollow and made it possible for you to vanquish the Source. Well, sort of. We know now that the Source wasn't actually vanquished that night. His power and essence went somewhere else. Do you remember where the Seer said his powers went?" Cole asked.

"The Void. Obviously she was lying," Paige said. Those powers didn't go into any void. Cole took them.

"No, she wasn't lying. Being deliberately evasive, yes, but not lying. Those powers did go into the Void. The void Phoebe created when she stripped Cole of his demonic powers. See, it's like I said before, just because you get rid of demon's powers, that doesn't mean he's not a demon. All you did was leave a hole in him. The Source's powers and essence found a new home in that hole," Cole explained.

"What do you mean essence?" Paige asked.

"His essence. You know, what makes us all who we are. The Source's powers, his memories, his personality, that all went into that void. And you wanna know what became of Cole Turner? He was reduced to the size of a knat. That actually accurately describes what he was to the Source. A bug he couldn't completely get rid of. Just a small pest that bothered him from time to time," Cole explained.

"Wait. Are you saying that the Source possessed him?" Paige asked. She prayed that the answer was no. How could she justify her own actions if it wasn't? Possession didn't make him evil. It made him a victim.

"No," Phoebe whispered. She would not accept that. Cole was not an innocent. He was not some victim that they failed to save. He was a demon that had to be put down. He had to be.

"No, he's lying," Leo said confidently.

"Am I? How can you be sure?" Cole asked.

"You're a demon. It's what you do," he said coldly.

Cole chuckled humorlessly. "Well at least demons are honest about their intentions. At least they don't pretend to be better than everyone else. I mean, come on. How many times have you all turned evil. I've lost count. And then we have your little spawn who takes the cake."

Leo angrily grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. "My son is not evil!"

"Get your hands off me now," Cole said seriously.

"Leo, you might want to," Paige said. Matthew was being very calm, but she had a feeling that only made him more lethal. He would defend himself if Leo didn't back off.

Leo let go of Cole and looked at Paige angrily. "Why are you still defending him? He's a demon!"

"And yet he's acting more civilized than you. You didn't attack him because he's a demon. You attacked him because you didn't like what he said," Paige said.

"My son is not evil," Leo repeated.

"How many times have you said those words? A hundred? A thousand? You think if you say it enough times it'll make it true? Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not. Your son is the spawn of Satan. Whether he was born that way or not remains to be seen. Either way, it kind of takes away that whole demons are inherently evil and witches are inherently good thing, doesn't it?" Cole asked. That really was the point he was trying to make here. He wanted them to realize that not everything was black and white. There were periods of gray. The sooner they realized that, the better.

"Why should we believe anything you say?" Leo asked.

"I honestly don't care what you believe. Face the truth or don't. It really makes no difference to me. But if you don't, be prepared to face the consequences," Cole warned.

"is that a threat?" Phoebe asked.

"Not at all. It's a warning. Oblivion never helped anybody. All it does is leave you vulnerable. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone," Cole said. He'd had enough for one day. He was tired and could really use a couple of hours sleep.

"Don't think this is over," Phoebe said before taking her sister's hand. They all then orbed out.


	17. Chapter 17

Paige walked into the kitchen and found Piper cleaning the counter. "Hey."

"Hi," Piper said tightly. She still wasn't ready to forgive her sisters or ex-husband for the stunt they'd pulled a few days earlier.

Paige sighed. "Look, I know you're still pissed at us, but I really need to talk to you."

"I'm not discussing Chris or Matthew with you," Piper said without even looking up at her sister. She just assumed that was what her sister wanted to talk about. She assumed that she wanted to once again try to tell her how evil the two men were.

"I wanna talk about Cole," Paige said. Well, it was partially about Cole anyway. It was mostly about the whole demons equal evil thing than it was about any demon in particular, but the information she'd been given about Cole had spiked the debate. She'd been able to think of nothing else since Matthew had given him that little history lesson. It gave her a whole new perspective on demons. She needed someone to talk to about it and she couldn't talk to Phoebe because there was no way her other sister could be impartial on this particular subject.

Piper's head instantly shot up. That had taken her completely off guard. "Cole. What about Cole?"

Paige took a seat at the counter. "Phoebe, Leo, and I went to see Matthew the other day."

"You what?" Piper asked angrily.

"Yeah. Leo wanted to prove that Matthew was lying about Wyatt and Phoebe wanted to know his true agenda. I don't really why I went. Maybe I was hoping that he would prove that my instincts weren't completely off on him. I don't know if he completely did that, but he definitely left me thinking. I used to think the difference between witches and demons was simple and clear. Witches were good, demons were evil. I never questioned that. Until now. Matthew didn't back down at Phoebe and Leo's accusations. He gave as good as he got," Paige said.

"Okay, when does this become about Cole?" Piper asked. Paige hadn't made the connection that Cole and Matthew were the same person, had she? No, she couldn't have. She was still referring to them as different people.

"Well, Phoebe said something to Matthew that now that I think about it was kind of hypocritical. The same thing I just said I used to believe. Witches are good, demons are evil. No gray area, no exceptions. Matthew then took the opportunity to remind her about her stint as queen of the Underworld," Paige told her.

"Thus bringing Cole into the conversation," Piper finished for her.

"Yeah. Phoebe tried to blame Cole for what happened then, but Matthew wouldn't hear it. He said she made the choice to take the crown," Paige said.

"Well, he's not wrong. I told you that right after it happened. No one forced Phoebe to make the choice she did. Yes, she was a bit influenced by the baby she was carrying, but ultimately she made the choice to stand by Cole," Piper said. She loved her sister, but she was not immune to her flaws. Phoebe made the choice to become Queen, no one else.

"Cole or the Source?" Paige asked. That was the question she was wrestling with. Was any part of Cole responsible for what happened back then? She knew that he hadn't chosen to become the Source. That was clear. He was the victim of the Seer's tricks. But she always assumed that he'd let the powers of the Source corrupt him. She never thought that the Source himself was inside Cole's body.

"Ah, so you've made that distinction," Piper realized. Even though she never said it, she knew Cole was not responsible for his acts as the Source. He was responsible for things he did when he came back from the Wasteland, but nothing from before that.

"Wait, you knew? You knew he was possessed?" Paige asked in surprise.

"Of course I did. Don't you remember that evil wizard that wanted to destroy the Source? Remember what he said when we told him we vanquished the Source. He said that the Source didn't die. That he was reborn into someone else. Cole," Piper explained

"Why didn't you say anything?" Paige asked.

Piper sighed. "Because it wouldn't have done anything except cause Phoebe more pain and I thought that she had enough of that. We couldn't save Cole, Paige. It was too late. The Source was integrated into every part of Cole. If we'd found out earlier, we might have been able to save him, but by the time we did, it was too later. The only choice we had was whether or not to let Phoebe go down with him."

"Cole was an innocent," Paige said. Saying the words 'Cole' and 'innocent' in the same sentence seemed weird, but it was true. He was a victim just as much as they were.

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "But sometimes we can't save the innocent. It's the hardest lesson we'll ever learn, but true nonetheless. Sometimes we're just not enough."

"So you think Matthew was wrong to say what he did?" Paige asked.

"No," Piper asked. While she believed that they'd made the right decision regarding Cole's vanquish, she certainly didn't blame him if he was bitter about it. He was the one that lost everything that had mattered to him at the time. However, she didn't think he was trying to hurt Paige or even Phoebe. "I think Matthew was trying to make a point when he said what he said. A point he obviously succeeded in making with you. He wanted you to think about the whole witch versus demon thing. And honestly, it was something you'd already been thinking about. We saw that with the manicore baby. You know now that demon doesn't necessary mean evil."

"I never really saw that baby as a demon. He was small and he was innocent."

"So was Cole once upon a time. It's just unfortunate that he was raised to be evil. But when it came down to it, he chose to change, and he became the better for it. He was still a demon, but he chose to use his powers for good. I guess that's just how it is. It's not the powers that make a person good or evil, it's how you use them. That's something I learned when I went to the future," Piper said.

"When you found out what Wyatt becomes," Paige commented. She still couldn't believe it. She knew it was true, but the idea of that sweet little boy being anything but was difficult for her to comprehend.

"Yeah," Piper said sadly.

"I wanna say that I'm sorry. I never should've agreed to the spell. I fought against it at first, but in the end, I just really wanted to know. I _needed_ to know about Matthew," Paige said.

Piper caught the way she said that. It was clear to her that Paige already felt a deep connection to Cole, even if she didn't realize it yet. It was going to be interesting to say the least when she found out who he really was. "And what did you find out?"

"That not everything is as it seems. That sometimes there is a gray area. I also realized that Cole and Matthew are a lot alike," Paige said.

Piper resisted the urge to snort. That was an understatement if she ever heard one.

"Don't get me wrong, I still dislike the hell out of Cole. In the end, he did go crazy and he did choose to try to kill us. But just because Cole did that doesn't mean Matthew will. I don't completely trust Matthew, but that has more to do with the fact that I barely know him than him being a demon," Paige said.

"That's fair enough. And I accept your apology, but don't you ever try and invade my privacy like that again," Piper warned.

"I won't, I promise. Now I better go. I'm late for my temp job. I'll see you later," Paige said.

Piper nodded and watched her sister leave.


	18. Chapter 18

Chris orbed into the Manor to find the family just sitting down to breakfast. Piper smiled at him. "Hey, you're just in time."

"Just in time?" Phoebe question.

"Yeah, I invited Chris and Matthew for breakfast," Piper said. "Speaking of, where is Matthew?"

"You invited a demon to breakfast?" Phoebe asked incredulously. Just when she thought her sister's behavior could get no more shocking, she proved her wrong.

"How many times did Cole eat with us?" Piper asked snidely before turning back to Chris. "So where is he?"

"Uh, he's not gonna come. It's Ben's birthday today," Chris said sadly.

"Oh," Piper said uncomfortably. She understood immediately. What would be a joyous occasion for most parents was probably tearing Cole apart right now. His son was dead. He wouldn't be able to celebrate his birthday with him. What was worse was that this year he couldn't even share his pain with Paige because the Paige that knew what he was feeling wasn't here. No, he definitely wouldn't want to be around the Manor today, or around the child that would grow up to become his son's killer.

"Who's Ben? And why is his birthday a bad thing," Paige asked.

Piper glanced at Chris, silently asking if it was okay for them to know.

Chris thought about it for a minute and nodded. It wouldn't be a big deal if they knew that. Maybe if they did, they wouldn't try to come at him today.

"Ben was Matthew's son. He was killed when he was a child," Piper said sadly.

"Oh my God. That's horrible," Paige said.

Leo shrugged. "Another dead demon."

"Leo!" they all yelled in unison, including Phoebe. Not even she was so cruel that she would be indifferent to a child's death, even if he was part demon.

"What? You want me to feel sorry for a demon?" Leo asked.

"That demon was a child, you son of a bitch!" Chris growled. "He was eleven years old and he had more goodness inside him than you ever could! He never hurt anyone with his demonic powers and it never occurred to him to ever do so. On contrast, your son used his witch powers to kill him!" He knew he probably shouldn't have said all that, but he was past reasoning right now. He loved Ben. He was his cousin. It hurt him deeply when the young kid died. He was not about to stand there and listen to his father act like his death was a good thing.

Leo stood up angrily. "You shut the hell up about my son! If Wyatt killed a demon kid, I'm hardly going to complain."

Chris growled and immediately launched himself at Leo. He grabbed him by the shirt and started punching him in the face.

The sisters immediately all got up and started prying Chris off of Leo. It took a minute, but they managed to do so and then they all got in between the two.

"You little bastard! You attacked an Elder. I'll have your wings for this," Leo threatened.

Chris smirked. "You can't. I was born this way. You can't take away my birthright." Okay, so technically he could, but it would be a lot harder. The Elders didn't strip powers that a person was born with lightly

"I'll have you recycled. How about that?" Leo asked maliciously.

"Leo, stop. You will do no such thing," Piper said in a menacing voice.

Leo stared at Piper incredulously. He couldn't believe she was still defending him. "Piper, he attacked me!"

"Dude, after what you just said, you had it coming," Paige said.

"So now you're defending, Paige?"

"You just said that a child deserved to die. You really think I'd get behind you on that?" Paige asked. To her it was no different than the manicore baby. Matthew's little boy was just as innocent as that child was. He didn't deserve to die.

"There's a difference between a child and a demon child, Paige," Leo said.

"Not to me there isn't," Paige said.

"Okay, Leo, you need to go now," Piper said firmly.

Leo looked at his ex-wife in shock. "You're kicking me out?"

"For now, yes, I am. Go!" Piper ordered.

Leo shook his head in disbelief before orbing out.

Chris sighed. "Piper, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it like that."

Piper shook her head. "No, it's okay. It's not your fault, it's Leo's. He shouldn't have said what he did."

"I better go. It wouldn't be a good idea for me to stay for breakfast today. I'm just going to go see if I can find any more threats," Chris said before orbing out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Paige found herself orbing into the club. After much debate with herself, she decided to see how Matthew was doing. Whatever connection she had with him was telling her that she needed to be with him to help him though this difficult time.

Paige looked around and saw Matthew in the corner of the room. He had a bottle of Vodka in his hand and looked absolutely miserable. She immediately went over to him and knelt in front of him. "Hey. You okay?"

"Not really. Little better than an hour ago," Cole slurred.

'You're drunk," Paige said. It wasn't a question.

"That's why it's a little better," Cole told her before taking a swig from the bottle.

Paige immediately took the bottle from him. "Okay, you've gotta stop. This isn't going to make you feel better, not in the long run."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect him," Cole said. His voice was filled with pain and regret.

Paige frowned. Was he apologizing to her? Why? She didn't even know his son. Why did he feel the need to apologize to her for his son's death? She supposed maybe he was just apologizing in general and not to anyone specific. Yeah, that had to be it. "It's not your fault. You would've saved him if you could."

"I don't know why you always make that excuse for me. I was the one with him that day. It was my job to protect him," Cole said. True, there were others there that horrible day, but he was the parent with their son. He should've been able to save him. "I knew there was something wrong with Wyatt, but I didn't want to say anything at Chris' party. If I had, Ben might still be alive," Cole said. He was completely unaware of what he was saying right now and to whom. He was too drunk and in too much pain to realize that this was not the version of his wife he should be saying all this to.

Paige was very confused. She had no idea what Matthew was talking about. He wasn't making any sense whatsoever. Though she supposed it really didn't matter. All that mattered was helping him though this difficult time. "Whatever happened, you loved your son. I'm sure of that. You would've saved him if you could've."

"I tried. But Wyatt knew that Piper and I were his biggest obstacles. That's why he took her out first and then came after me. He couldn't kill me, but he could slow me down. When I came to, everyone was gone but me, Coop, and Chris," Cole cried. "I'm just grateful that Paula and Melinda were with you that day."

Paige was still confused, but from what Matthew was saying, she'd gathered that they knew each other in the future. She wasn't really that surprised. She already felt a connection to him. How could she feel that if she didn't know him?

"I want you to know that I'm going to keep my promise to you. I will kill him if I have to?" Cole swore.

"Kill who? Wyatt?" Paige asked. She knew that Piper had said she wanted Wyatt in the future, but she just couldn't reconcile that fact. And she certainly couldn't imagine hearing someone saying they'd kill him without vanquishing him where they stood.

Cole nodded. "I won't let him take our boy again."

Paige's eyes widened in shock. Had he just said 'our boy'? As in hers and his? Theirs together? Ben was her son too? She knew she had a connection to Matthew, but she never thought it was so deep that she actually married him.

Suddenly Paige understood Piper's words about her hating Wyatt and how she could understand why. Wyatt murdered her son.


	19. Chapter 19

Paige sat on the floor against the couch in the club. Matthew was asleep on the couch next to her. She'd stayed with him the rest of the day and night. She didn't sleep though. She couldn't. All she could do was think about everything she'd just learned. "She was going to be a mother. Not that that really shocked her. She'd always wanted to be a mom one day. But imagining the possibility was much different than knowing for a fact that your child would exist and learning what his name would be before you even had the chance to decide it. She wondered why she chose Ben. The name didn't hold any significance to her. Maybe it did to Matthew.

Matthew. He was going to be her husband one day. Now that the initial shock was over, it wasn't that surprising. She could see herself with a guy like Matthew. He was kind and decent, but with a protective streak and a willingness to do what he had to do to protect the ones he loved. The only thing that might have held her back in the past was that he was part demon, and that was beginning to matter less and less to her. Ever since her conversations with both Piper and Matthew, she didn't see the world as so black and white anymore. How could she with what she knew about Wyatt?

Paige cringed just thinking about what Wyatt would become. The nephew she adored was going to grow up to murder her child. Would she ever be able to see him the same way again? Would she be able to even look at that baby without picturing a monster?

Paige was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Matthew begin to stir. "Hey."

Cole groaned and brought his hand to his head. He had the mother of all hangovers right now. "Oh my God. Somebody make the drums stop."

Paige smiled sympathetically. "Headache?"

"That's putting it mildly," Cole said as he began to sit up.

Paige got up and sat down on the couch next to him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Cole asked. The last thing he knew, he was alone drowning in his own sorrows.

"You don't remember?" Paige asked.

She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. He had been very drunk by the time she got there.

Cole shook his head, an action he instantly regretted. "I think everything started going fuzzy after the first half of the bottle."

"Yeah, I think that's your first clue that you drank too much. You know, you never pegged me as the type to drink your sorrows away. I figured you more for the type to kill everything in sight," Paige said.

Cole looked at her. "Chris told you."

"He told us what yesterday was. Piper told us what it meant," Paige said.

Cole leaned back and then stared straight ahead. "You know, being here alone yesterday made me wish I was back in my own time fighting Wyatt. Every day was a different battle. There was always something to fight. It made it easier to cope."

"Because you didn't have time to think about it," Paige said.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I still felt it. I feel it every day. But it's harder to dwell on it when you're busy launching attacks or rescuing innocents. I never knew what a blessing that was until now," Cole said. He hated that all of that was necessary in the future, but at least it kept him from feeling the full extent of his loss. "I'm sorry. You don't need to hear this. Why are you even here?"

"I wanted to see if I could help you," Paige said.

"Why would you care about me? I'm just another demon to you," Cole said a bit bitterly. He knew this wasn't really his wife yet, but it still hurt the way she'd thought so badly of him.

"That's not true, but I guess I can understand why you'd think that. Until recently, my opinion matched that of Phoebe's and Leo's. I thought demon meant evil. It's been my experience," Paige said.

"Demons are evil. And most of the time it is as simple as that. But there are half demons that can choose differently. They're not very common, but it does happen," Cole explained.

"I know. I can see that now. I know you're not evil. Actually, you're probably a saint. You came here to save a child that destroyed your life. I don't know if I'd be able to do that if I were you. Actually, from what Piper says, I'm not capable of that," Paige said. Back when Piper told her she hated Wyatt in the future, she couldn't believe it. Now she could. She still loved Wyatt, but she understood how that could change. Wyatt had killed her child. If there was anything that could make her hate him, it was that. It was still hard for her to imagine, but she knew now that it was possible.

Cole grew stiff and turned to her. What exactly had Piper said to her? "What do you mean?"

"When she was under the influence of the Truth Spell, Piper told us that both Leo and myself wanted Wyatt dead in the future," Paige said.

Cole nodded. "I know you find it hard to believe."

"I used to," Paige muttered.

"What was that?" Cole asked. He hadn't quite heard her.

Paige hesitated. Should she tell him that she knew? Would it really help him to know that she knew his secrets? Probably not. In fact, it might make him feel even worse. He was already racked with guilt over their son's death. If he knew that she knew, he would probably blame himself for her having to face this new information. No, she couldn't do that to him. "Oh, nothing. Just muttering to myself. "I should probably go. Chris will be back soon and I'm sure my sisters are wondering where I am," she said before standing up.

"Thanks for whatever you did last night," Cole said. He didn't remember anything, but he knew that just her presence would be comforting to him. He always felt better with her.

Paige nodded. "Matthew? Your son's fault wasn't your fault. Try to believe that," she said before orbing away.


	20. Chapter 20

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were in the attic getting ready for their next demon hunt. "So what makes you think this demon could be after Wyatt again?" Phoebe asked her older sister.

"Well, he has a pension for going after magical children in order to convert them," Piper said.

"And how do you know Wyatt is on his list?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't, but I'm not going to sit around and wait to see if the evil bastard decides to come after my son," Piper said as she gathered her potions.

Just then Cole and Chris entered respectively using their unique means of transportation. "You guys ready?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, but first Paige needs to take Wyatt to Magic School," Piper said. They'd discovered Magic School and its owner when they'd helped them with a problem a couple of weeks earlier.

Cole frowned. "Magic School? Isn't that run by Gideon?"

"Yeah, you know him?" Paige asked.

"I know of him. Piper, can I speak with you for a minute?" Cole asked.

Piper nodded and led him over to a corner away from everyone else. "What's up?"

"It is an extremely bad idea for you to allow Gideon anywhere your son," Cole said seriously.

"Why?" Piper asked. She didn't get it. Gideon was an Elder. What could they possibly fear from him?

"You said you trusted me, right?" Cole asked.

Piper nodded.

"Then trust me when I tell you that this man does not have your son's best interests at heart," Cole said.

"Okay, but then who am I supposed to get to watch him," Piper asked.

"Where's Leo?" Cole asked.

"Doing some kind of Elder business. He's the one that suggested taking him to Magic School," Piper told him.

Cole cringed. He hated himself for what he was about to say, but there was no other choice. He'd vowed to protect Wyatt if he could and that meant from Gideon too. "I'll watch him."

Piper raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You wanna watch Wyatt?" She found that very hard to believe. Cole hated Wyatt and he made no attempt to hide it. It was something that did bother her, but at the same time she understood it.

"Of course I don't _want_ to. I can't think of anything I wanna do less, but I promised I'd do what I could to protect your son, even if it means doing something I personally detest," Cole said.

"Come on, you really think Gideon is the threat after Wyatt?" Piper asked in disbelief. That was a ridiculous notion if she ever heard one. What reason could an Elder possibly have for turning Wyatt evil?

"No, probably not, but he is _a_ threat. Look, I don't know the whole story, but Gideon came after Wyatt in my future. I don't know if it was because he figured out Wyatt was evil or because he was simply afraid of the fact, but he tried to kill your son," Cole said.

Piper's eyes hardened. "The son of a bitch tried to kill my son?!"

"Like I said, I don't know exactly what happened. Wyatt might have already been turned and Gideon might have been trying to stop him. All I know is that he is a possible threat, and one that we can't afford to have to worry about right now," Cole said. They had enough issues without having to worry about a homicidal Elder as well

"Okay, but what makes me think he's safer with you? Yes, you came her to help save him, but you also said you would have no problem killing him if you felt it was necessary," Piper reminded him.

"If there were no other options. I'm not at that point yet," Cole said.

"Would you tell me if you were?" Piper commented.

"No, probably not," Cole admitted. "But then again, I also wouldn't care Gideon killed him now would I?"

"Why do you care? Wyatt dying would solve all your problems. Why not just let Gideon do the dirty work?" Piper asked.

"Because I don't take ending a child's life lightly. Even if that child is Wyatt. If I have to kill him, it'll be because I failed to save him," Cole told her. He wouldn't lift a finger against the child unless it became apparent that the boy was already turned. Until then, the boy was still innocent.

"I'll stop you," Piper warned.

"I know you'll try. I'd expect nothing less," Cole said.

Piper nodded and then led the way back to her sisters and Chris. "Okay, change of plans. Matthew is going to stay here with Wyatt," she said before taking her son out of Paige's arms.

"Really?" Chris and Paige asked in unison. Both had a hard time believing that he would willingly stay with the kid that would grow up to murder his son.

"Piper, are you crazy? You're going to leave your baby with a demon?" Phoebe asked in disbelief.

Piper glared at her sister. "I'm not having this conversation again, Phoebe. I trust Matthew. Deal with it." She trusted him for now anyway. She knew the time might come where she couldn't, but for now she would stick with him.

"You sure about this, Uncle?" Chris asked. He knew this was not something his uncle wanted to do in any way, shape, or form. He hated Wyatt more than anyone and for good reason.

"It'll be fine, Chris," Cole promised.

"Alright, let's go," Piper said before bringing her son over to Cole.

Cole cringed before lifting the small child out of Piper's arms and into his own. "Just come back as soon as you can."

Piper nodded and then grabbed Chris' hand. Phoebe grabbed Paige's and the four orbed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm just saying it was a bad idea," Phoebe whispered to Paige as they walked through the Underworld. They were a few paces behind Piper and Chris. "You don't leave demons alone with your kids."

Paige sighed in exasperation. "Phoebe, you were going to make Cole Wyatt's uncle!"

"Okay, why does everyone keep reminding of that whole thing?" Phoebe asked.

"Because you sound like a hypocrite," Piper said ahead of them. She'd heard every word, but chose not to speak up until now.

"Can we just focus on the demon please?" Chris asked.

"Do you even know where the demon is?" Phoebe asked.

"His hideout should be right around here," Chris said as he finally stopped walking.

"I don't see anything," Piper said as she looked around.

"Looking for me,"

They all turned to see the demon they were looking for behind them. Before they were even able to react, the demon threw an energy ball at them.

"Energy ball!" Paige called. The energy ball disappeared in white and blue orbs and materialized in her hands. She immediately threw the energy ball back at the demon.

The demon disappeared from sight before the energy ball could hit him.

"Crap. Be on guard," Chris said as they began looking around for the demon.

"Dammit, where the hell is he?" Piper asked loudly.

"Behind you, Witch," the demon snarled.

Piper had barely turned around the demon before finding herself flying through the air. The demon then did the same to Phoebe and Paige.

Suddenly the demon was blown up and screaming in agony before nothing was left but scorch marks.

Phoebe pulled herself up. "Nice job, sis," she told Piper.

"I didn't do that," Piper said as she stared at Chris in shock. She hadn't blown up that demon, Chris had, and he had done in the same way with the same grace she had so many times before. He had her power. But how? Even if her power wasn't unique to her, the way she used it should be. Yet Chris used it the exact same way she did. She supposed it was possible if they were related or something, but they weren't, right?

"Piper?" Chris asked uneasily. She was staring at him like she was trying to figure him out or something. It made him more than a little bit nervous.

Things suddenly started to click for Piper. Chris had her power. He also had Prue's power of telekinesis. While that by itself might be a coincidence, he also had Leo's powers too. He was part whitelighter. Then there was his personality. He acted just like a member of the family. He had Prue's fierce protectiveness and Paige's sarcasm.

Then Piper remembered a conversation she had with Chris in the future where Chris talked about his cousin Paula. He'd said she was part witch, part whitelighter, and part demon. The combination of any child of Cole and Paige's. And then there was Leo. He'd seemed so protective of Chris in the future. He'd gone to him immediately when he'd realized that Chris was in turmoil over Melinda's death. She'd wondered why at the time. Now she knew. It was staring her in the face the entire time, but for some reason she couldn't see it until now. Chris was her son.


	21. Chapter 21

Piper continued to stare at Chris. She couldn't believe she'd missed it. All this time she'd spent wondering about her second son and he was right in front of her the entire time. How did she not notice? He was exactly how Cole described him. What was more was that he looked and acted just like a member of the family.

"Piper, are you okay?" Chris asked. He was beginning to get very uncomfortable with the way his mother was staring at him.

Piper finally found her voice. "You have my sister's eyes." Chris' eyes were pure Prue, as was his protectiveness and determination. More that should've tipped her off that he was a Halliwell.

Chris' eyes widened as he realized what his mother was saying. She knew. Somehow she had figured out his secret. No. No, this couldn't be happening. She couldn't know. She wasn't supposed to know. He was supposed to be able to fix the future and then return without her ever finding out his identity. "I…I don't know what you're talking about."

"Piper, what's going on?" Phoebe asked in confusion.

Piper didn't answer her. Instead, she began walking toward her… son. When she got close enough, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "It's you. You're my son."

"What?" Phoebe asked in shock.

"Oh my God," Paige said, equally surprised by the news.

"No, you're wrong," Chris lied. He felt like everything was collapsing around him. He had to find some way to convince Piper she was wrong. He just could not deal with her knowing. She would want to get closer to him and he couldn't allow that. It would hurt too much when he lost her again.

"No, Chris, it's okay. You don't have to lie to me. Everything's fine," Piper promised.

"No, it's not! Y…you can't know. You just can't," Chris said.

"Look, I know you're worried about the future, but you don't have to be. The future will be fine. We'll make sure of it," she said.

"No, you don't understand. I…I can't do this. I can't," Chris said before orbing out.

"No, Chris, wait!" Piper called the second she saw him start to orb, but it was too. He was gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cole walked into Wyatt's room to find Gideon standing over a sleeping Wyatt. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Gideon turned to him. "Ah, Hello. You must be Matthew. My name is…"

"I know who you are. Now answer the question. What are you doing looming over this child like a stalker?" Cole asked.

"Oh, I was just checking on the boy. His father asked me too. I'm afraid Leo wasn't happy to learn you were looking after his son.

Cole rolled his eyes. Elders and their stalking tendencies. Leo must have been spying on them from Up There. Well, that was if Gideon was telling the truth. It was entirely possible that he wasn't. "Well, that makes two of us. If Leo has such a problem with me watching his son. He should come down and do it himself."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid he is busy. He asked me to do it for him. He'd prefer Wyatt come to Magic School with me," Gideon said.

"You're not taking this child anywhere," Cole told him firmly. He doubted Wyatt would let Gideon take him anyway. Good or evil, Wyatt was smart. He knew when someone was out to hurt him. He would raise his shield the moment Gideon made a move for him.

"Young man, I suggest you stand down or I'll be forced to remember the difference between our kinds. One less demon in the world would not upset me too much," Gideon said.

Cole chuckled. "Give it your best shot. If the future Source of all evil can't take me out, I have a hard time believing you have a shot. Now as I said, you are not taking Wyatt anywhere. He was entrusted in my care by his mother and that is where he will remain until she returns."

Gideon stared at the man for a moment. He weighed his options and decided that now wasn't the time to challenge him. He might alert the Charmed Ones to his motives regarding the child if he did. It wasn't really time to make his move on the boy yet anyway. "Alright. But if anything happens to this child…"

"Nothing is going to happen to him. I'm going to see to that," Cole said meaningfully.

Gideon stared at Cole for a minute and then orbed out.

Cole looked at Wyatt for a minute and then turned just in time to see Piper come in. "Hey. How'd it go?"

"I need to talk to you," Piper said before walking back out into the hall.

Cole followed her and closed the door behind her. "What's up? Where are your sisters?"

"Downstairs. I need to talk to you about Chris," Piper said.

"What about Chris? Is he alright?" Cole asked in concern.

"I'm not sure. Something happened while we were in the Underworld. Chris used his powers to try to help us," Piper said.

"Okay," Cole said slowly. He didn't really see what the problem was.

"He used _my_ power. And I don't know, something just sort of snapped in me. It was like that moment just spiked a moment of pure clarity," Piper explained.

Cole sighed. He could guess the rest. Piper had figured it out. She knew now that Chris was her son.

"He's mine. Chris is my other son. I don't know why I didn't see it before, but I see it now. The thing is, when I confronted him about it, he got so upset. He just orbed out. I don't understand it. Am I that horrible a mother that my own son doesn't want to be anywhere near me?" Piper asked, her voice filled with hurt.

"No, Piper. You're that good of a mother. Chris loves you, probably more than anyone else. If he's avoiding you, that's the reason why," Cole told her.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"Losing you was the worst thing that Chris has ever had to go through. It nearly destroyed him. He can't face that again," he said.

"So you're saying he freaked out because he's afraid of losing me all over again?" Piper asked.

"Yes. You see, now that you know, he can no longer pretend that you're just some stranger he's trying to help. You're his mother now. And that is bringing back pain that he's tried so hard to bury," Cole explained.

"So what do I do? How do I help him?" Piper asked.

"Give him time. Give him a couple of days to get a handle on his emotions and then I'll talk to him."

"Okay," Piper said after a minute. She didn't like it. She wanted to be able to help her son now, but she realized that Cole knew better than her right now. He knew Chris, she didn't.

"On an entirely separate note, you need to be careful of Gideon. He was just here," Cole said.

"What? Why?" Piper asked alarmed.

"He says that Leo asked him to come and get Wyatt. I don't know if it was true or not, but I obviously didn't let him take him. You need to be careful of him. He already wants Wyatt, I can tell," Cole said.

"He's not touching my son," Piper said firmly.

"Good. Because we can't afford to be distracted by Gideon. If we are and we miss the bigger threat, we're all screwed.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gideon was in his office at Magic School with Sigmund. They were speaking about Wyatt and what had just transpired at the Manor.

"So a demon protects the Charmed Ones now?" Sigmund asked.

"It seems that way. And it seems that he genuinely is trying to protect them, which poses a problem for us. He's very distrustful of me," Gideon said. One meeting and he could already tell that much.

"You think he knows?" Sigmund asked.

Gideon shook his head. "I doubt he knows much. He would've attacked if he did. But he knows enough to distrust me, which means he's going to be a problem. I'm going to have to find a way to neutralize him before I can go after the boy."

"Easier said than done," said a familiar voice.

Gideon looked around to find the source, but came up empty. "Who is that? Who's there?"

Out of nowhere, Leo appeared.

"Leo. How much did you hear?" Gideon asked in worry.

Leo shrugged. "Nothing I didn't already know. But I think you're confusing me with someone else. Or rather a different version of the same person. I'm from the future."

Gideon stared at the man in shock and some concern. How much did this man know and what was he going to do about it? Would Gideon be able to stop him from foiling his plans for Wyatt? "W…Why are you here?"

Leo just looked at him for a minute. "I'm here to help you kill my son."


	22. Chapter 22

Later that night, Paige walked into the kitchen and saw Piper getting ready to put a batch of cookies in the over. The counter was already filled with an assortment of muffins, cakes, and cookies. "Whoa! When did this place turn into a bakery?"

"What?" Piper asked as though nothing was wrong.

Paige went behind the counter and pulled Piper around by her shoulders. "Okay, I think you need to stop and come sit down."

Piper sighed, but did not stop her younger sister from pulling her away.

Paige sat her sister down at the table and then sat across from her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Okay, no, I'm not. I want to talk to Chris," Piper said. She couldn't stop thinking about her other son since she found out that he was her son. The only thing that kept her from scrying or summoning him was baking.

"Have you tried calling for him?" Paige asked.

"I'm trying not to. Matthew said it would be better to give him some time to think and he knows Chris better than I do, so I'm trying to do it his way. It's just so hard. I want to talk to him. I wanna tell him I'm sorry," Piper explained.

"Sorry for what?" Paige asked in confusion. What did Piper have to be sorry about? Out of all of them, she'd treated Chris the best. As soon as they came back from the future, she'd practically adopted him into the family.

"For the way that I treated him when he first got here. I treated him like the enemy," Piper said guiltily.

"Piper, he was a stranger. Our track record with strangers who claim to want to help us isn't all that great. Of course you didn't trust him," Paige said.

Piper shook her head. "I should've known he was one of us the second I saw him."

"How would you have known? How would anyone have known?" Paige asked. She certainly didn't know. She didn't even have an inkling. She was shocked as hell when Piper first said it.

"He looks just like Prue. He has her eyes, and he acts just like her and you," Piper said.

"I'm like Prue?" Paige asked. That actually made her feel really good. She'd always wondered about the sister she never had the chance to meet. It was nice to hear that they were alike.

Piper snorted. "So much so that it's eerie given the fact that you've never met. You both put magic and our job as witches above just about anything else, and you're both fiercely protective of those you love. Chris is the same way. Plus he has your sarcasm. Obviously you have a big influence over my kids.

Paige smiled. Again, she liked hearing that. Her nephew took after her. It was nice.

"You know, I was so angry at Leo in the future. He cared more about Chris than Wyatt. Now I know why," Piper said.

"That's ironic considering," Paige said. This version of Leo hated Chris. He refused to believe that Chris was anything but evil or that Wyatt was anything but good.

"It's amazing. Both versions of Leo irritate me on very different levels. This one would rather hate someone who is just trying to help us save our child than accept that something may have gone horribly wrong, and the other version wants to kill our son," Piper said.

"Have you told Leo about Chris?" Paige asked.

"Paige, I can't even be in the same room with Leo without wanting to blow him up. Besides, he'd probably just deny it the way he has with Wyatt. He won't listen to anything that paints Chris or Matthew in a good light. And I swear if I tell him about Chris and he tries to deny it, I will blow him up, and then I'll wait for him to materialize and blow him up again!"

"Well, you're gonna have to tell him eventually since the two of you kind of have to create Chris," Paige said.

Piper's eyes widened when her sister's implications hit her. Oh my God! Why the hell didn't I think of that? Dammit, what was he thinking? Did it ever occur to him that breaking me and Leo up might cause him to not be born. Oh, now I understand why C… uh, Matthew got so pissed when I told him Leo and I weren't together anymore."

"Well, there's still time. I mean, Chris is still here, so obviously it can still happen," Paige said

"I don't even want to be around Leo right now, let alone sleep with him," Piper said.

"Yeah, he has been an ass lately. Look, Leo is a good guy. I think he's just in deep denial about Wyatt," Paige said.

"Believe me, I understand that. And I wanted it stay that way. I didn't want him to know about Wyatt. I knew it would torture him to know that his own son could be so evil, that he was capable of killing other members of this family. Just like it did me," Piper said.

Paige stiffened a bit as she was reminded of what Wyatt would do to her own son. Honestly, she found it a bit difficult to be around Wyatt. She still loved him and wanted to protect him, but when she was around him, she was reminded of the pain she watched Matthew endure and pain that she might be forced to one day.

"But he knows and he has to accept it," Piper continued firmly. She would not stand back and let Wyatt be turned and Chris treated like crap by his own father just because Leo didn't know how to deal with the truth.

"You're gonna have to tell him about Chris," Paige said.

Piper shook her head. "Not until I talk to Chris. If Chris will ever talk to me."

"I'm sure he'll talk to you, Piper. He probably just needs some time. It is a really weird situation. I mean, you're his mother, but you're not at the same time. It has to be hard on him. Especially since in the future, he's lost you," Paige said. She knew that Piper was dead because of what Matthew had told her while he was drunk. From what he's said, she had deduced that she was the only one of her sisters that had survived Wyatt's attack on them in the future.

"That's what Matthew said. He said that Chris was probably afraid of losing me all over again," Piper said.

"Well, like you said, Matthew knows Chris best. Just give him some time. He'll come around," Paige said.

"I know. It's just harder than you might think," Piper said. Just then Wyatt started crying through the monitor.

"Well, you can distract yourself with your other son for a while," Paige said.

Piper chuckled and immediately got up to go to Wyatt.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gideon made his way back into his office where future Leo was waiting. Just after Leo had made his very surprising announcement, Gideon and Sigmund had to leave to deal with a student.

Leo was staring outside the window in Gideon's office that looked out into the hall. "It's amazing. It's hard to remember a time when these halls were filled with kids instead of demons.

"Why are you here, Leo?" Gideon asked. He found it hard to believe that Leo would actually agree with his views on Wyatt.

Leo chuckled a little and turned to his old friend. "You don't believe me. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me. After all I was the one to stop you the last time. "

"Y…your saying this all happened before?" Gideon asked in shock.

"No, not all of it. No one came from the future before. But yeah, you tried to kill my son before. I killed you for it then. A decision I now regret," Leo said.

"So you really do agree that Wyatt needs to be stopped?" Gideon asked.

"Oh, yeah. Killing him is the only way to protect the world. More than that though, it's the only way to protect my family," Leo said. He refused to go through that again. Ending Wyatt was the only way to save his wife and daughter and stop Chris from going through the suffering he did.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye. I think the only real obstacles we might have are Christopher and the demon," Gideon said.

Leo looked at Gideon sharply. "You stay the hell away from Chris! Stopping Wyatt is one thing, but Chris is off limits to you. You touch him and I will kill you."

Gideon was taken aback by the fierce protectiveness for the half whitelighter from the future. The Leo from this time seemed to hate the boy. Then again, this Leo was much different from the one he was used to.

"As for Cole, taking on him is going to be no easy task," Leo said.

Gideon frowned. "Cole?"

"Oh, he probably gave a different name. After all he couldn't go around as Cole Turner and be trusted. It's the demon you mentioned," Leo said.

"He said his name was Matthew. Cole Turner. That was Phoebe's ex-husband," Gideon mused.

Leo nodded. "And Paige's future one."

"I encountered him just today. He doesn't trust me," Gideon said.

"He knows you want Wyatt dead. He's a part of the family and they all know," Leo said. Well, everyone aside from the kids knew.

"He has to be stopped. We need to take him out," Gideon said.

Leo chuckled. "You can't take him out. The sisters vanquished him twice and he came back both times. Wyatt's tried more times than I can count and it led nowhere."

"You're saying he's stronger than Wyatt?"

"No, of course not. Wyatt is the strongest being to ever be born. No one is stronger than him. But Cole is smarter than Wyatt and he's better at protecting himself and those he loves. You can't vanquish him. But that's not to say you can't get him out of the picture," Leo said.

"What do you mean?" Gideon asked.

Leo crossed the room and looked out the window again. "There's really only one way to get Cole out of the way. And I know exactly how to do it."


	23. Chapter 23

The next day, Cole found Chris on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. "I figured I'd find you here. You been here all night?"

"No. I spend most of the time vanquishing demons. I take Piper told you," Chris guessed.

"Yep. Said you took off right after it became clear that she knew the truth," Cole said.

"She wasn't supposed to find out, Uncle Cole. No one was ever supposed to find out. I was supposed to just save Wyatt and go back without anyone ever knowing my true identity," Chris said.

"I know. And I also know that it's just because of future consequences that you didn't want her to know," Cole said knowingly.

Chris looked away. "It's just going to be weird now with her knowing. She's going to want to talk to me. She's going to want us to be family. I…I just can't." It would hurt too much to get close to Piper. He missed her like crazy in the future. She was everything to him. And if he got close to her again here, it would hurt like hell when he went back to the future and she was gone.

"Yes, you can, Chris," Cole said.

"No! I…It'll be too hard. If I get too close to her, I'll have to let go later and I don't know if I can do that," Chris cried.

"You don't know that you'll have to let her go. Wyatt killed your mother. One way or another, we're going to stop that from happening. It won't happen again," Cole promised.

"But something else could. I mean, what if she was meant to die that day?" Chris asked. He hated even thinking it, but it was possible. Her death might have been unavoidable.

Cole sighed. He wasn't sure what to say to that. If Piper was meant to die that day, she would. There was no getting around Destiny. It got its way one way or another. "Alright, I can't honestly say for sure that your mother will be there when we get home, just as I can't say Ben will be. But I will say this. If I even had the chance of one more day with Ben, I would take it. I would take it and I would cherish it. Now I may not get that, but you can. You have more time with your mother. Take advantage of it. Spend time with her while you can."

"But it'll hurt more if I go back and she's gone," Chris said.

"Yeah, it will," Cole conceded. "But you'll also have more memories of her. You'll be able to look back on it and I guarantee you you'll be glad you listened to me. Just think about it," he said before shimmering away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Phoebe was sitting on the living room floor playing with Wyatt when she noticed the blue and white orbs. She thought it was Leo at first, but it turned out to be Chris. "Oh, hey, Chris."

"Hey. Is Piper around?" Chris asked. After a lot of thinking, he'd come to the conclusion that his uncle was right as always. He couldn't live his life revolved around what might happen. He had to focus on the present. Right now, his mother was here. He needed to focus on that and spend as much time with her as he could.

"She went out, but she should be back any minute," Phoebe said.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll come back later," Chris said.

"Chris, wait!" Phoebe said before Chris could orb out. "Is it true? Are you really my nephew?"

"Yeah. Or at least I will be one day," Chris said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Phoebe asked.

"Would you have believed me? The only thing you've seen me as since I got back from the future was a threat. You even went so far as to use the Truth Spell against all of us," Chris said. He had to admit that that hurt. He knew they she didn't know who he was, but it still hurt to know that his aunt would do something like that.

Phoebe felt a twinge of guilt. "Chris, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, but you have to understand something. You lied to us over and over again for months and then you brought a demon home."

Chris sighed. "I wish you'd get over this demon thing. He's only half demon."

"You know, I've said that before. I've said those exact words. 'He's only half demon'. You're family, so I'm sure you know who I'm talking about," Phoebe said.

Chris nodded. Actually, they were both talking about the same person, Phoebe just didn't know it.

"I thought I could help him suppress his demonic side. I thought my love could save him. I was wrong," Phoebe said.

"Ever think maybe he didn't need to be saved?" Chris asked.

Before Phoebe had a chance to respond, they heard the front door open. Piper entered the room seconds later. "Chris."

"Hi," Chris said awkwardly.

"Um, I'm going to take Wyatt upstairs for his nap," Phoebe said as she stood up. She then picked Wyatt up and left mother and son alone.

"I'm glad you're here," Piper said genuinely. She'd been seriously going nuts all day. She had planned to give Chris one more day before she tried to call for him.

"I'm sorry I took off like I did," Chris said. No matter what else, he didn't mean to cause his mother pain, and he knew that by orbing out the way he did, he did just that.

Piper waved off his apology. "It's okay."

"No, it's not! You didn't deserve that. It's just that you knowing the truth about me caught me off guard. You weren't supposed to know," Chris said.

"I should've known a long time ago. I should've figured it out. You're just like Paige and my other sister Prue," Piper said.

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, you've told me that my whole life. You said I was like Aunt Paige, who was like Aunt Prue. You always found it ironic that the two people who never met Aunt Prue were the two people the most like her."

Piper smiled for second and then sighed. "Listen, Chris, I wanna tell you I'm sorry."

"For what?" Chris asked. He didn't understand what his mother had to be sorry about. She didn't do anything to him.

"I wasn't overly supportive of you before we went to the future. I didn't trust and I barely helped you. I even hurt you when my sisters and I were Goddesses," Piper said. She remembered very clearly knocking him out cold. She hurt her own child. She would never forgive herself for that.

"That wasn't your fault. You were angry and you couldn't control the powers inside you. As for the rest, you didn't know. Besides, you treated me better than Phoebe and Leo. I didn't run out yesterday because I was angry. I was scared. It hurt me so badly to lose you in the future. I was afraid that that pain would come back even worse if I got close to you again and then lost you," Chris explained.

"But you're here now," Piper said.

"Yeah. I got some good advice. When I was a kid, I would've given anything to see you one last time. Now I have that chance. It would be stupid of me to waste it. I love you, Mom," Chris told her.

Tears filled Piper's eyes as Chris called her 'mom' and she immediately wrapped her arms around him. "I love you too."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Leo orbed into Gideon's office at Magic School. He got word from the other Elders that Gideon was looking for him. When he got there, he found Gideon sitting at his desk. "Hey, Gideon. You wanted to see me."

"Indeed I did. I am sorry about this, Leo," Gideon said genuinely. And he was sorry. He wished more than anything that he didn't have to do this, but he did. It was for the Greater Good.

Leo frowned in confusion. "Sorry for what?" Just after the words left his mouth, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and then everything went black.


	24. Chapter 24

Leo woke up to find himself laid up on the floor of Gideon's office. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by crystals. He immediately knew what that meant. He'd seen the sisters use this method too many times. He was trapped in a crystal cage. The question was why. The last thing he remembered was showing up because Gideon wanted to see him. Then everything went black.

"You should stay away from the edge."

Leo turned to see Gideon. "Gideon? What's going on? What is this?"

"I'm sorry about this, Leo, I really am. But we needed you out of the way," Gideon said.

Leo stood up, careful to avoid the crystals. "Out of the way of what? And who's 'we'?"

Leo heard the clearing of someone's throat from behind him. He turned around and came face to face with… himself. "What the hell?"

"I know what you're thinking, but I'm not a demon. I'm you, from the future," Future Leo said.

Leo gaped in shock. A year ago, he probably wouldn't have believed it. While it was possible, he would've seen it as farfetched compared to it being a demon. However, he'd seen a lot of future people lately. But why would he lock himself in a magical cage? And why would Gideon help? "You're me?"

"Technically. Though I think the two of us are as far apart as oil and water personality wise," Future Leo said.

"I don't understand. Why would you do this? Why would either of you hold me hostage?" Leo asked.

"We needed you out of the way, Leo. So we can do what has to be done," Gideon said.

"Out of the way of what? Is this about Chris and Matthew?" Leo asked before turning back to his future self. "Is that why you're here? To stop Chris and Matthew from hurting Wyatt? Because I wouldn't stop you. I wanna help."

Future Leo scoffed. "Wow. It's amazing how narrow-minded and stupid I used to be. For nearly twenty-five years, I worshiped the ground that kid walked on. I refused to accept the truth, not until it was shoved in my face. I didn't come here to stop Chris or 'Matthew'. Well, okay, in a way I did, but only because I know they won't succeed. They're too blinded by the pull of family to see the truth. And that's that there's nothing inside of Wyatt worth saving."

Leo felt began to feel his stomach turn. This couldn't be right. He couldn't believe this ridiculous story about Wyatt too, could he? He couldn't believe that his own son was evil.

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's not true. That it's just a wild story Chris came up with to fool you. But it's not. The evil you think is in Chris, it's in that little brat you call your son," Future Leo said coldly. He knew to outsiders he seemed like a disgrace of a father, and in many ways he was, but he had no love for Wyatt. No compassion, no guilt for wanting him dead. The only thing he felt for that thing he once called his son was hatred.

"You're lying," Leo said. He'd said those words many times before when speaking to Chris or Matthew, but for the first time, he wasn't so sure of them. It was easy to deny what Chris, Matthew, and even Piper were saying, but it was different when the words came from his very own lips.

Future Leo laughed humorlessly. "No, I'm not, but I'm not surprised you think that. I thought it too. I refused to see the truth for years. But when you watch the memory of your son being brutally tortured by his own brother, well, it's hard to ignore something like that." That's how it ended for him. That was when he was forced to admit the God awful truth. Cole and Paige had forced him to watch a memory of Chris being tortured by Wyatt. He could no longer deny it after that.

Leo stared at his future self in shock and horror. That couldn't be right. He couldn't' have a son that evil, could he? Wyatt couldn't be so heartless that he would hurt his own family that way. The fact that he had another son kind of through him as well. Piper had mentioned them having other children in the future, but hadn't really paid much attention to her. He was too focused on what she was saying about Wyatt. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He still didn't.

"You must realize the truth, Leo. You must see what has to be done. We must eliminate the threat," Gideon said.

Leo's eyes widened in both horror and rage when he realized what his 'friend' was implying. "You mean kill my son?!"

"It's the only way, Leo. We must protect the future," Gideon said.

"No! Not by killing my son. Wyatt can still be saved. W…We can find out who turns him and stop it, like Chris wanted," Leo said. He never thought he'd be agreeing with Chris, but Chris wanted to save his son while these people wanted to kill him. He was going to go with the person who wanted to save his child.

Future Leo chuckled. "You don't get it, do you? Nothing turns Wyatt. This is just the way he is, the way he was always going to."

"How can you say this stuff? He's your son," Leo said in disbelief. Piper had told him that in the future he hated Wyatt, that he wanted him dead, but he just couldn't bring himself to believe it until now. It was obvious now. The man in front of him hated Wyatt more than anything in the world.

"I have one son and it is not that sadistic, evil bastard. I am doing this for my son. So that he and his sister can have a better life. So they can have the life that I should've given them in the first place," Future Leo said.

"I won't let you hurt my son!" Leo screamed before charging towards his future self, momentarily forgetting that he was trapped. The cage electrocuted him and he collapsed on the floor in pain.

"I am sorry about this, Leo," Gideon said sadly before turning to Future Leo. "You should go. People are going to be wondering where he is soon enough."

Future Leo nodded and orbed out.

"I will kill you for this, Gideon. Make no mistake about that," Leo said from his place on the floor.

"Don't bother trying to call for help. No one else can see or hear you," Gideon said before orbing out himself.


	25. Chapter 25

Future Leo orbed into the middle of the nursery. He immediately heard the sound of Wyatt gurgling and slowly walked towards the baby.

Wyatt immediately raised his shield and peered at his father distrustfully.

Leo snorted. "Well, I'll give you this. You always were pretty smart. But it won't stop me. I will not let you destroy my family."

Leo didn't care what he had to do. He would stop this monster before he had the chance to destroy everything he held dear. He would have to wait a little while though. He would have to work on figuring out how to stop Wyatt. Even at a year old, the kid was very powerful. He wouldn't go down easily.

There was also Cole to contend with. Leo didn't relish the idea of taking on Cole. One, because taking Cole on was a very dangerous act. Not many took him on and lived to tell about it. The only one he knew to have done it was Wyatt and that was because the bastard was too powerful for everyone's good. The other reason Leo didn't want to take him on was because he respected Cole. Cole was a good man. He'd stepped up and raised Leo's children when he wasn't around to do it, and that was while going through the worst hell any parent could ever face. His biggest flaw was that despite everything, he still believed there was a chance for Wyatt. So, no, Leo didn't want to have to go after him, but he didn't have a choice. Cole was smart. It wouldn't take him long to figure Leo out. Not unless he had something to distract him.

Leo soon heard footsteps coming his way. He immediately stepped away from the crib so that Wyatt would lower his shield. The last thing he needed was for the sisters to see Wyatt with his shield up around him. That would send very loud alarm bells off in the sisters' heads.

Piper soon entered the room. "Hey. I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."

"Really? About what?" Leo asked.

"Chris. And don't even start in on him because so help me, I will not be responsible for my actions," Piper warned.

Leo felt rage build up inside him for himself. What had his past self been saying about his son? He'd heard enough while in Gideon's office to know that he didn't trust Chris, but from Piper's reaction, it didn't end there. "What about Chris?"

"Let's go into the other room," Piper said as she led Leo into her bedroom. She needed to tell him about Chris. After quite a lot of persuasion, she'd managed to convince him that Leo needed to know the truth. He'd finally caved when she told him it was the only way to get him conceived. He told her that she could tell Leo whatever he wanted as long as she promised to stop talking about sex with Leo. He'd then made a hasty retreat.

"So what's going on?" Leo asked. He had a feeling he knew. Piper had most likely found out about Chris being their son and was now telling him the 'news'.

"He's our son, Leo. Chris is our son," Piper told him.

Leo made a conscious effort to look shocked. "He's our what?"

"It's true. Chris came back here to save his family. He's ours, Leo," Piper said smiling. She was beyond happy. She was going to have a son that would grow up to be an extraordinary person. Chris was everything she could want in a son. He was smart and kind and he would do everything for family. She already loved him just as much as she loved Wyatt.

"How do you know this?" Leo asked. He actually did want to know the answer to that. He wondered how she'd realized the truth. He knew Chris didn't tell her and Cole wouldn't unless he had to.

Piper sat down on the bed. Leo sat down as well. "It actually came out of nowhere, though it shouldn't have. I should've known the whole time. I knew we had another son. I found that out when I went to the future. But I never made the connection between him and Chris. Not until the other day. We were demon hunting and he used my power. I know that probably doesn't seem like much, but it all just started clicking. Everything I knew about Chris and our second son all just came together and I just knew."

"Did he admit it?" Leo asked.

Piper nodded. "Yeah. He didn't want to, but he did."

"Wow. This is just unbelievable," Leo said feigning surprise.

"Yeah. You know what's even more unbelievable? You threatened to have our son's soul recycled," Piper said. She couldn't help but be angry about that. She knew Leo hadn't known who Chris was at the time, but that shouldn't have mattered. Chris had come to save their son and Leo had threatened to kill him.

Leo felt hot rage build inside of him. He had half a mind to go back to Gideon's office and beat the crap out of himself. Where the hell did he get off even threating such an act? Recycling someone's soul wasn't a threat that should be given out lightly. It was the kind of thing that Elder's saved for the worst kind of offender. It certainly shouldn't be used on Chris.

"You're angry," Piper said in surprise. She could almost feel the anger radiating off of her ex. She couldn't figure out who he was angry at though. It had better not have been Chris. Chris had done nothing wrong.

"I'm angry at myself. I can't believe that I could hurt my own son that way. He must hate me," Leo said. Actually, he knew that a piece of Chris did in fact hate him. He'd hated him for a long time, and for good reason. Leo just hoped that by stopping Wyatt he could stop that too. He should be able to. The reason he hadn't been there for Chris and Melinda was largely because in the back of his mind, he was always afraid of what Wyatt would become. He'd focused all his time on Wyatt to try to make him good. In the end, it turned out to be useless.

Piper sighed. "Well, you have a lot to make up for, but you can, Leo. You and Chris can have a relationship, but you're going to have to work for it."

"Right," Leo said before standing up. "Listen, this is a lot to process. I'm gonna head out so that I can think."

"Okay. I'll see you later," Piper said.

Leo nodded and orbed away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Leo orbed into Phoebe's office. He needed to his plan to distract Cole into motion and Phoebe was his best bet. She was the most impulsive of all of them, especially in this time period and especially again when it came to Cole.

"Leo, what are you doing? What if someone had been in here?" Phoebe asked.

Leo almost snorted. He really longed for the time when their biggest problem was possible exposure of magic. "I sensed before I orbed. I need to talk to you."

"Did Piper tell you about Chris?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah."

"It's quite a shock, huh? All this time we've been trying to expose him and Matthew for the evil that they were and we were wrong. Well, about Chris anyway," Phoebe said. Matthew she still didn't trust. He was a demon after all."

"Actually, it's Matthew I need to talk to you about. I recently found out something about him," Leo said.

Phoebe's eyes widened. "He is evil, isn't he?!"

"I think so, but I guess with him you can never be sure. He does have an agenda though and I'm pretty sure it has to do with you," Leo lied. Sure, Cole would always love Phoebe to a certain degree, but he wasn't doing this solely for her. He was mostly doing it for Paige and their children.

"What did you find out? Tell me so that we can get Piper and Paige out from underneath his thumb," Phoebe said urgently.

Leo took a deep breath. This was it. Once he did this, he wouldn't be able to undo it. "It's Cole, Phoebe. Matthew is really Cole."


	26. Chapter 26

Paige walked into the kitchen and noticed Matthew sitting at the counter. "Hey. What are you doing here? Please tell me it's not another demon."

Cole chuckled. "It's not. Piper invited me for dinner," Cole said.

Paige looked around in confusion. "Then where is she?"

"Oh, apparently she forgot some ingredient for her sauce, so she ran out to get it," Cole explained.

"Oh. So is Chris coming too?" Paige asked before going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.

"Yeah, he's upstairs with Wyatt," Cole said. They had reluctantly agreed to watch Wyatt for Piper. They figured Piper wouldn't be gone long and they wouldn't have to do much. Unfortunately for them, Wyatt had woken up just minutes after Piper left.

"I'm surprised. The first time Piper asked him to babysit, he said he didn't do kids. Now I think he just doesn't do Wyatt," Paige said. She couldn't really blame her nephew though. She was having her own issues with Wyatt. She still loved him very much, but there were times she would look at him and picture the monster that would grow to murder her son. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to look at him any other way.

"Well, to be fair, Chris has never really been around a baby Wyatt's age, so it could be that he just doesn't do kids. He couldn't say no to Piper though. Not know that she knows," Cole said.

"You son of a bitch!"

Cole and Paige both turned to see Phoebe with daggers in her eyes.

Cole rolled his eyes and turned to Paige. "I never understood why people use that phrase on a guy they're pissed at. It's more of an insult to a guy's mother. And since my mother was a bitch, it doesn't really bother me."

Paige snorted at the comment.

Phoebe took a few steps towards her ex-husband and stared at him in disgust. "I can see you so clearly now."

"I seriously doubt that," Cole said in a bored tone.

"I know who you are, you bastard. I know it and see you for who you are, literally," Phoebe said. As soon as she walked into the kitchen, she'd seen his true face. He must have had a spell on or something that was broken the minute she had been told who he really was.

'_Oh crap,' _Cole cursed inwardly. He didn't let his distress show though. He wouldn't give this version of his ex the satisfaction. "Great, you figured it out. What do you want a medal?"

Phoebe gaped in shock. She couldn't even believe the gall of this evil bastard. He wasn't even trying to deny it. In fact, he was acting like it was no big deal. "You son of a bitch."

"Yes, I believe we covered that. I already know my mother's a bitch. Shall we move on?" Cole asked with a smirk.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Paige asked. This seemed to be more than Phoebe's usual distrust of Matthew. She seemed to really hate him right now. And you could only hate someone like that if you knew him.

If Phoebe heard he sister's question, she didn't show it. "So what was the plan? To use my sisters and Chris to get close to me?"

"Oh, yeah, that was the plan. That's why blatantly ignored you for months," Cole said sarcastically.

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you," Phoebe said.

Cole glared at her. "No, you used to know me. But I'm not that person anymore."

"Okay, so I guess everyone's just going to ignore me," Paige commented as she watched the exchange.

Phoebe laughed humorlessly. "Oh, so I guess this is where you try to tell me you're not the evil bastard you used to be."

"No, this is where I don't tell you a damn thing. I don't owe you an explanation, Phoebe. I don't owe you anything at all," Cole said. And he didn't, not this version of her anyway. A few years in the future he might have seen fit to give her an explanation, but not the selfish, narrow-minded woman that was in front of him now.

"Oh, no? You make my life hell and then you come back years later and you don't owe me anything?" Phoebe asked in disbelief.

Just then Piper walked into the room. "What the hell's going on in here?"

Paige shook her head. "Don't expect an answer. They're in their own world. I asked that question five minutes ago and I have yet to get an answer."

"Just so we're clear, that goes both ways," Cole said. He didn't deny that he hurt Phoebe, but she gave as good as she got.

Phoebe raised both eyebrows. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to say that. She'd never done anything to Cole except free herself from him. "I never did anything to you."

Cole shook his head. "Keep telling yourself that."

Piper looked back in forth between her sister and Cole. She knew what this was. This was Cole and Phoebe World War II. Somehow her sister found out who 'Matthew' really was.

"What? What did I ever do to you that was worse than you turning me into the queen of the Underworld?" Phoebe asked angrily.

Cole stood up angrily, sending his chair crashing to the floor. His calm exterior was completely gone now. "You! You did that! You chose! I'm not taking responsibility for that."

Paige gaped in shock. Cole? Matthew was Cole? As soon as she came to that realization, 'Matthew literally morphed into Cole. Instead of the guy she'd befriended and come to trust, she was looking at the brother-in-law she despised.

Paige began to feel sick. This was the guy she was supposed to marry. Forget the fact that she hated his guts for a minute. This was her sister's ex-husband. How could she ever be with a man her sister loved. Was it possible Cole had been lying?

Paige immediately nixed that theory. She'd seen the pain in Cole's eyes. No one could lie about that or use it to get to someone. No matter what else, that had been real.

Meanwhile, Cole and Phoebe continued to fight, oblivious to either of the other sisters. "What else is new, Cole? You never take responsibility for your actions."

"Oh, no, sweetie, you're thinking about yourself. It's surprising how much you wanted me gone since I had to be so convenient to have around. You could do whatever the hell you wanted and just blame me," Cole said.

"I can't believe you! You're actually going to sit here and act like you were my victim? And what? I'm just supposed to beg your forgiveness and take you back?" Phoebe asked loudly.

"I never claimed to be a victim. And I don't want an apology from you. I already got that apology from the version of you that wasn't a selfish, self-centered shrew. I forgave her and she forgave me," Cole said.

"I don't believe you. I would never forgive you," Phoebe snarled.

"Hey!" yelled a new voice.

They all turned to see that Chris had orbed in.

"Does everybody in this house hate me today? I just got the kid to sleep and now you all are screaming like banshees! Now if you all don't shut up, I will show you just how much like my mother I am!"

They were all quiet for a minute before Piper spoke. "Did they wake Wyatt?"

"No, not yet, but I wasn't going to wait around for them to do so," Chris said.

Piper got in between Phoebe and Cole. "Okay, I think this has gone on long enough. Cole, you said it yourself. You forgave Phoebe. So let it go! Phoebe, you need to get out of his face. He's right, we were not blameless."

Phoebe looked at her sister in shock and was about to say something, but one glare from Piper shut her up.

"Hey, where'd Paige go?" Chris asked. She had been there when he orbed in, but now she was gone.

Realization hit Cole all at once. He'd been too engrossed in his showdown with Phoebe to even notice that Paige was still there. Now it was hitting though. She knew the truth about him. "Oh God."

"Go," Piper told him.

Cole immediately shimmered out.


	27. Chapter 27

As soon as Cole was gone, Phoebe rounded on her remaining sister. "How long, Piper? How long were you going to keep this from me?"

"Indefinitely," Piper said matter-of-factly. "You were never supposed to find out. By the way, how did you find out? I know neither Cole nor Chris told you."

"I know I didn't tell her too," Chris commented.

"What does it matter who told me? _You _didn't! You lied to me!" Phoebe shouted.

"You keep your voice down. If you wake up Wyatt, Chris' threat will seem like nothing! And I was very clear with all of you when I returned from the future. I told you there were things I couldn't or wouldn't tell you," Piper said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't think my demon ex-husband coming back from dead was one of them. I had the right to know, Piper," Phoebe said glaring.

"So you could do what? Have a meltdown like you did tonight?" Piper asked.

"I think under the circumstances, I have a right to meltdown. After everything he's done…"

"Phoebe, I don't care! I don't care about your issues with Cole. I'm not in it. I want no part of it!" Piper said firmly. Yes, she had interjected earlier, but that was because it was going on in her kitchen while her baby was sleeping upstairs.

"I think you put yourself in it when you brought my ex-husband into my life," Phoebe said.

"I didn't bring Cole into your life, Phoebe. He's there and he's always going to be there," Piper said. Cole might not love Phoebe anymore, but he was still a part of her life. He was and always would be family. "And it may have escaped your attention, but Cole coming back here is not about you. It was never about you. This was about my son. It was about protecting him and the rest of the world from what he could become. I will not apologize for protecting my child."

"Protecting him? Like bringing Cole here could protect anyone. For all we know, he's the danger to Wyatt. Have you seen the way he looks at him?" Phoebe asked. She certainly had. She even sometimes felt the hatred he had for her nephew. It was so deep that even his potion couldn't block it.

"I look at him the same way sometimes," Chris told Phoebe. "He's my brother, but a part of me does hate him."

"You don't mean that," Phoebe said. She knew Wyatt had done terrible things in the future, but it couldn't be enough to make Chris hate his own brother.

"Yes, I do. I wish I didn't, but I do. He killed my mother, my sister. He killed you and all but one of my cousins. I hate him for that. So can you really blame Cole for hating the person that murdered his son?" Chris asked.

Phoebe had forgotten about that for a minute. She'd forgotten about Cole's son. For a second she wondered if maybe… No, Cole's child was not hers. He couldn't be. She refused to believe that she'd ever go back to Cole. "He's done horrible things."

"So have we," Piper said. "And I don't mean just to Cole. I mean in general. I went on an angry rampage when Leo became an elder and knocked out my own son."

"Mom…"

"No, Chris. I did it. It doesn't matter that I was under the influence of Goddess powers or that I didn't know who I was. I hurt you and I have to live with it," Piper said before turning back to Phoebe. "Phoebe you became Queen of the Underworld. And don't even try to give me that 'Cole made me do it' crap. It won't fly with me. You may have done it in response of your love for Cole, but you did it. Sooner or later you're going to have to face that fact. My point is that we have all made mistakes and done things that we shouldn't have. We just find it easier to crucify Cole because he happens to be a demon. Well that changed for me when I got to the future and saw what a child born a witch would grow up to become and how a man born a demon fought to make a better life for the innocent. I can't justify hating him anymore. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on my baby," she said before walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Paige orbed to the Golden Gate Bridge. Both Leo and Chris said it was a good place to think. It was probably the only thing father and son agreed on. And boy did Paige to think. She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been. 'Matthew' had reminded her so much of Cole. The only real difference was that she liked 'Matthew'. He must have had a good laugh at her expense there.

Paige sighed. She just couldn't believe this. The guy she'd trusted, the one she was supposed to marry one day, was the same guy who tried to kill her. He was the man she'd hated more than anyone else in the word. He was also her sister's ex-husband. How was she supposed to deal with that?

Just then, Cole shimmered in front of her. Paige glared at him. "You don't wanna be here right now."

"Won't you at least give me a chance to explain?" Cole asked.

"I thought you didn't owe us an explanation," Paige said bitterly.

"I said I didn't owe Phoebe an explanation," Cole clarified. He didn't owe Phoebe an explanation, but he did owe Paige one, if only because she was his wife and he loved her. "Look, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to find out like that. As soon as I realized Phoebe knew, I should've found a way to get rid of her and tell you myself. I shouldn't have let her get to me.

Paige shrugged. "Why should I care? I hate you. I've always hated you." Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie. Yes, she hated Cole in the past, but not anymore. She was too hurt by his actions for her to be able to hate him.

"No, you don't. You may have hated me before, but you don't anymore. You're mad at me and you feel betrayed, but you don't hate me," Cole said.

Paige felt the urge to punch him. Who was Cole to tell her how she felt? It didn't matter that he was right. It pissed her off that he could tell what she was feeling so easily. "I trusted you. I defended you! And this whole time you were someone I wouldn't have even spit on before."

"You trusted me because you got to know me. I am who I've always been. Yes, I've changed some, but I've still got all the qualities of the guy you met two and a half years ago. The difference is that you finally gave him a chance," Cole said.

"When did you ever give me a reason to? I think I had every reason to hate and distrust you before. You tried to kill me," Paige said.

"I'm well aware of that. There is very little I regret more than that," Cole said. Actually, there was only one thing he regretted more and that was not being able to protect his son. "I can't even begin to defend what I did to you. It was terrible. All I can really say about it is that I was out of my mind. And that's not an excuse, it's an explanation. I lost everything and it was easier to place the blame on you than on the two people responsible

"You wanted me gone so you could be with Phoebe," Paige said.

"Yes. At the time, I thought that Phoebe and I were meant to be. In my warped brain, thought that if she'd never met you, we'd still be together. I was wrong. Phoebe and I crashed and burned because we weren't meant to be together. My path was with someone else," Cole said. He didn't regret his relationship with Phoebe though. His relationship with her led him to where he needed to be. With Paige.

"Do you know what that does to me? What dark place it is taking me too?" Paige asked.

"What do you mean?" Cole asked in confusion.

"I love my sister, Cole. I love her. And according to your future, I'm going to betray her," Paige said. That was the hardest thing for her to swallow. You would think it would be that she married someone she once despised, but that wasn't it. It was the fact that that man had once been married to her sister.

Cole stared at her in shock. He wasn't sure how, but somehow Paige knew that they were married in the future. "Y…you know? How?"

"You get chatty when you're drunk. The day of your… _our_ son's birthday, you were talking to me like I was your version. You said things you wouldn't have said otherwise," Paige explained.

"I don't remember," Cole said. He still had no recollection of most of that day. He'd spent most of it in a pain filled haze.

"Yeah, I know, and I didn't see the point of bringing it up. Well, now there's kind of a point, isn't there?" Paige asked.

"Look, Paige…"

"Don't. There's nothing you can say to make what I'm going to do okay. Look, I can't deal with this right now. I'm going home. Please don't follow me," Paige said before orbing out.


	28. Chapter 28

Piper was in the kitchen feeding Wyatt when Chris orbed in. Piper smiled at him. "Hey, sweetie."

"Hey. Uh, did Paige come home last night?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, she's here. She's upstairs sleeping. Why?" Piper asked as she continued to feed her 'younger' son.

"Uncle Cole didn't come back to the club last night," Chris said. He was more than a bit worried about his uncle. The fact that he didn't come back the night before didn't bode well.

Piper sighed. "Yeah, I had a feeling it didn't go all that well last night. Paige came back, but she wasn't too happy. She went straight to bed and didn't say a word to anyone. Anyway, if I know Cole, he probably went to sink his teeth into something."

"I searched the Underworld. Granted, not the whole Underworld as that's kind of impossible, but the usual haunts," Chris said.

"Well, if he wants to be alone, he'll probably avoid the usual haunts. He knows you as well as you know him," Piper said.

"Probably better," Chris mumbled.

"Look, just give him some time, sweetie. I'm sure he just needs time to figure out his next move," Piper said.

"I'm just worried about him. I'm worried about both of them," Chris said. This whole thing worried him greatly. This wasn't supposed to happen. The others were never supposed to find out who Cole really was. But they had and now all their futures were in jeopardy. What if this changed things? What if his aunt and uncle never got together? He wouldn't have Cole then. He didn't even want to think about that. Cole had meant so much to his life, Paige too, and she wouldn't be the same without her other half. He didn't want to lose them.

"They mean a lot to you," Piper said. It wasn't a question. She could tell that her son was very close to Cole and Paige in the future, and she knew the feeling was mutual. She'd seen how protective Cole and Paige were of him in the future. It was something she was grateful for. At least she knew her son wasn't alone when he lost her.

Chris sat down next to his mother. "They were all I had after… The Event. They took care of Melinda and me. They helped us get through the pain, even though their pain was a hundred times worse. They put aside their own grief to make sure we were okay."

Piper put her hand on Chris'. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I should've been there."

'It's not your fault you were. But it will be my fault if Paige and Cole never make it to where they're supposed to be this time around," Chris said. He'd brought Cole back to the past with him. He should've found a way to convince him not to come.

"How do you figure? You didn't tell Phoebe who Cole was. You had no part in any of this," Piper said firmly. "Besides, I wouldn't count Cole and Paige out yet."

"But you said it didn't go well," Chris said.

"Yeah, it was the first conversation. Paige has been lied to for months. Of course she didn't take it well. No Halliwell takes that well. And the fact that it's Cole is enough to send her reeling. Look, I don't know how much you know about the history between Cole and Paige, but it's complicated. Paige couldn't stand the sight of Cole for pretty much as long as they've known each other. Cole didn't exactly like her either, but that was mostly because she stood in his way with Phoebe," Piper explained.

"It's so weird to think of him with Aunt Phoebe. I mean, I know that they were married. It was kind of joked about a lot when I was growing up, but it's still hard to imagine," Chris said.

Piper snorted. "Yeah, well, it was hard for me to imagine him with anyone else but Phoebe at first, let alone Paige. But now I see the way they are with each other even now. And that's why I think it'll be alright. I think they're meant to be, and if they are, they'll find their way."

"I hope so. I don't want to see either of them unhappy," Chris said.

Just then Paige walked in. She had dark circles under eyes, indicating that she hadn't slept all night.

"Good morning," Piper said.

"Yeah, I don't see much good about it," Paige said tightly.

Piper sighed. "Okay, say it. I know you have something to get off your chest."

"You lied to me. You both did. Now Chris I can understand because I didn't really know this version of me well and he was trying to protect his future. But you're my sister. You're my sister and you lied to me for months. You saw me getting close to him and you didn't say a word," Paige said with hurt and ager laced in her voice.

"What would you have done if I had told you? What would you have done if I told you who he was as soon as we stepped through the portal? I'll tell you what. You would've started coming up with new and inventive ways to vanquish him. But you won't do that now, will you? Because like you said, you have gotten close to him. He's not just our demon ex-brother-in-law from hell anymore. He's…" Piper trailed off as she realized she was about to reveal something that Paige didn't already know.

"He's what? My future husband? Yeah, I know about that. You must have had a good laugh at my expense there," Paige said bitterly.

Piper bit her lip. She couldn't deny that she found the situation more than a tad bit funny at times, but it wasn't because Paige didn't know who she was falling for. It was because the idea of Paige feeling anything but disgust for Cole was utterly hilarious at first.

"Paige, no one is laughing at you. Mom didn't tell you because she was sworn to secrecy before we came back here. Sworn by you. You happen to like your life. Well, other than the psychotic nephew and the death and destruction. You didn't want to lose it," Chris said.

"That's not fair. That's future me. The present me wanted to know," Paige said.

"And are you happy now that you do know?" Piper asked. "I know what you're thinking right now, Paige. You're not thinking you hate him. You're not thinking you don't want to be with him. You're thinking, 'how could I do this to my sister?' I know you're thinking that because I would too if I were you."

Paige looked away. She truly hated how her sister could just tell exactly what she was feeling sometimes. It was like she had ESP.

"You don't have to be thinking that, Paige," Chris said. "I don't know how this all went down, but I do know that you and Phoebe had a great relationship. All three of you would laugh about this, almost perversely so. I can't count how many times I heard the phrase, 'I had him first'."

Paige snorted. She couldn't help it, it was funny. It was also something she knew Phoebe would say. "I…I just don't know how to deal with this."

"Then don't. You don't need to right now. This obviously doesn't happen anytime soon. Just let things happen the way they're supposed to. I have a feeling that when it does happen, you'll be ready for it. Just don't fight it."

"I need to get ready for my temp job," Paige said before leaving the room.

"Do you think she'll fight it?" Chris asked.

"I think even if she tries she won't be able to. It's like Grams always told me. Destiny always wins out. Now you might want to get out of her because I'm about to call Leo to get Wyatt. He's late," Piper said as stood up and picked her son up.

Chris shrugged. "I'm gonna have to see him sooner or later."

"Okay. Leo!"

Orbs filled the room seconds later. "What's up?"

"What's up? Did you forget you were supposed to pick up your son?" Piper asked with her free hand on her hip.

"I was? I mean, of course I was. Look, Piper, I…"

"No! You are not cancelling! I don't care what Elder crap you have to do. You need to spend time with your son," Piper said firmly.

"Piper, it's not that I don't want to. I can't," Leo said. Actually it was that he didn't want to. He didn't want to be anywhere near the brat unless it was to eliminate him. But he also couldn't take him. The kid knew he wasn't the loving father he'd had for the last year. He knew Leo wanted him dead. He wouldn't let him touch him.

"I don't care, Leo. I told you, you're taking him!" Piper said dangerously.

When Piper held Wyatt out for Leo, the boy raised his shield, causing it to hit Leo and send him across the room.

Chris stood up and looked between Wyatt and Leo in shock. That was the last thing he expected. Wyatt adored Leo. Why would he treat him like he was a demon?

Piper put Wyatt back in his high chair. "Oh my God. Please tell me it hasn't happened already!"

"No, he's not evil. Whatever happened to Wyatt changed him gradually. This has nothing to do with him being turned. He was protecting himself. Though why he would need to from Leo is anyone's guess," Chris said.

"Well, we need to find out. Paige, Phoebe!" Piper yelled before going over to an unconscious Leo.

"Uncle Cole! Uncle Cole, it's an emergency!" Chris yelled at the ceiling.

At that moment, Phoebe and Paige rushed into the room in fighting stance. "What happened? Where's the demon?" Paige asked.

Cole shimmered in at that moment with a worried look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Wyatt repelled Leo with his shield," Chris explained.

"That's ridiculous. Why would he do that?" Paige asked.

Cole immediately went over to Leo and bent down. "Out of the way."

Piper immediately stood up and backed up.

"What the hell are you doing to him?" Phoebe demanded to know.

Cole ignored her and lifted Leo's shirt a little. "He's got the scare on his left side.

"Son of a bitch!" Chris cursed when he realized what that meant. This was his father. It wasn't the bastard that would become his father. It was his father.

"What? What is it?" Piper asked worriedly.

"In the future, when I was about ten or eleven, Leo was kidnapped by Darklighters. They used these special arrows designed for torture instead of death. They wouldn't kill him, but they would cause agonizing pain for days at a time. They couldn't be healed either. It left him with a nasty scare," Chris explained.

Paige began to figure out what they were saying. "But then wouldn't that mean..."

"Yeah," Cole said as he stood up. "This isn't your Leo. It's ours. He's come back here to kill Wyatt."

Leo began to stir at that moment.

Cole immediately grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. "You son of a bitch! How stupid do you think I am? Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?"

Leo gulped when he finally got his bearings. He realized that Cole had figured him out. "I…I don't know what you're…"

Cole tightened his grip. "Don't lie to me! I told you to let me handle it, didn't I? I told you that I would take care of Wyatt if I had to!"

Leo's eyes darkened. He figured he might as well give it up. Cole had him figured out. "That kid has to go, Cole. We've gotta get rid of him before he destroys us all."

"How can you say this? He's your son," Phoebe said in horror. Piper had told them that Leo hated Wyatt in the future, but she hasn't really believed it until now. Leo loved Wyatt. He would never want hurt him.

"That is not my son! _That_ is my son," Leo said as he looked at Chris.

"Dammit! You agreed to let me handle it! I told you I would deal with it and you agreed! Why the hell did you come here behind my back?" Cole asked angrily.

Leo steeled himself against what he was about to do. He'd known there was a good chance Cole would figure him out and that he would need a backup plan if he wanted to get rid of Wyatt. He hated the thought of doing it, but he would if it would save his family. "Things changed."

"Like what?!"

Leo took a deep breath in preparation for the cruelest thing he'd ever done or would ever do. "Paige and Paula are dead."


	29. Chapter 29

Cole let go of Leo and stepped away as if the man had burned him. He couldn't have heard right. He couldn't have. His former bother-in-law could not have said those words. Because if he said those words, it would end him. He still remembered the last time he'd heard words just like this. _'Your son is dead.' _That time it had been Coop to say them and it damned near killed him. The only two things that kept him going were his wife and daughter. But if they were gone… If the son of a bitch had taken him too, it would shatter him. There was no coming back from that.

"W….What did you say?" Chris asked as his hands began to shake. No this wasn't right. This couldn't be right. He heard his father wrong. His aunt and his cousin were not dead. They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't.

Leo swallowed. There was no going back now. He'd said the words and there was no taking them back now. He was going to have stick to them. "I'm sorry. They were killed."

"Oh my God," Piper said as she brought her hand to her mouth in shock and horror. The idea of her baby sister and her little girl being killed was hitting her hard too. She knew realistically that her sister was still alive standing a few feet away from her, but the idea of her being killed by her son in the future was a bit much for her to bear. And Paula, that sweet girl that was so full of life despite everything. It was hard to imagine her being killed like that.

"No. No, you're lying," Cole accused Leo. He had to be lying. There was no way his wife and his baby girl could be gone. He couldn't live with that.

"Who's Paula?" Phoebe asked. Whoever she was, she must have been important to Cole because she knew it couldn't be Paige's death that was having such a profound effect on her ex-husband.

Page wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to that question. She was already reeling from the idea that she would be killed in the future by her own nephew, and somehow she got the feeling that this girl's death would be even worse for her.

"His daughter," Piper whispered sadly.

"I'm sorry, Cole," Leo said truthfully. And he was. He hated himself for what he was doing and he knew he should go to hell for it. But he had to. He needed everyone distracted so he and Gideon could take out Wyatt and this was the only way he knew how.

"I…If they're d…dead, then tell me how," Cole said.

"You don't want to know," Leo said.

Cole slammed him against the wall again. "Tell me!"

Leo thought fast to come up with an answer Cole would believe. Thankfully, given history with Wyatt, it wasn't very hard. "Wyatt went after a coven of witches. We sent a team after them. Paige and Paula were a part of that team. It got ugly fast. Both sides suffered numerous casualties. Paige and Paula were a part of it. Wyatt killed Paula himself." Again, he knew how awful it was for him to say it, but he wanted to paint as ugly a picture as possible. At the very least, it would distract Cole and at the most, the man might be finally willing to accept that Wyatt needed to be taken out.

Cole's face contorted with pain as the images started filling his brain. He could see his baby girl being murdered by the same son of a bitch that took her brother. It all became too much for him to take and he shimmered out at once.

Piper turned to where Paige and Phoebe were standing. "You need to go after him."

"What? I'm not going after him," Phoebe said assuming her sister was talking to her. There was no way she was going after Cole. She felt bad for him, as no one deserved to go through the pain of losing one child, let alone two, but that didn't mean she didn't still hate his guts.

"Not you. God only knows what a nightmare that would turn into," Piper said.

Paige knew Piper was talking about her even before Phoebe's false assumption. "I wouldn't even know what to say."

"Paige, you've gotta try. You saw what he was like the last time his life fell out from under him," Piper said.

Oh, Paige remembered that alright. He'd gone off the deep end and tried first to kill himself and when that didn't work, her. And that was just from losing Phoebe's love. Now he actually had a reason to lose his mind. His entire family had been murdered. Paige couldn't imagine there was anything worse. "He doesn't want me, Piper. Not this me anyway."

"Maybe not, but you're all he's got. This is destroying him and no matter what else, I know you don't want to see that happen," Piper said.

Paige stared at her older sister for a minute and then orbed out to go find her future husband.

"Okay, what is going on? Why would you send Paige after Cole?" Phoebe asked. It made no sense whatsoever. Paige hated Cole more than she did and vice versa. Why would she want to help him?

Piper ignored her sister and turned to Chris. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Chris shook his head as tears began to well up in his eyes. This was hitting him hard. The aunt he loved and his favorite cousin were now gone, along with the rest of his family. All he had now was Cole and who knew how long that would last. He wasn't stupid. He knew his uncle was falling into the abyss right now.

Piper pulled Chris into her arms. "It's going to be okay, sweetie. We won't let it happen. We'll stop it. I'll stop it."

With a look of determination, Piper pulled away from her son and turned to Phoebe. "Okay, this is the last straw. We have to stop this and we need to do it yesterday."

"How? We've turned over every demonic lead even remotely capable of being a threat to someone like Wyatt and we've come up with nothing," Chris said exasperatedly. After what he'd just learned, he was beginning to lose hope. What if his father was right? What if Wyatt wasn't turned? What if this was just how he was? He didn't want to believe it, but it was getting harder and harder to refute.

"Then we turn over every other lead. I don't care if we have to obliterate every demon in the Underworld! We will stop this from happening! But first we need to find our Leo," Piper said before turning to where the future version of her ex-husband was supposed to be only to find that no one was there. "Where's Leo?"


	30. Chapter 30

Future Leo stood in Gideon's office with Gideon and his glaring past self. He'd just explained to Gideon what had happened at the Manor.

The present time version of Leo had been absolutely shocked to find out that Matthew was actually Cole Turner and absolutely horrified to learn that Wyatt had killed off his entire family, but did his best to get past it. There were bigger things to worry about. Like stopping these two men from killing his son.

"Was it actually true, Leo? Did Wyatt murder his family?" Gideon asked.

Future Leo shook his head. "No. I said that because I needed Cole to back off of me. Now Wyatt certainly would've killed them if he had the chance, but he didn't."

"You told a man that his family was dead when it wasn't true. What the hell is wrong with you?" Leo asked in disgust.

"This coming from the guy who said that his son, Ben deserved to die because he was part demon," Future Leo snarled. He'd heard about that from one of the sisters.

Leo didn't really have anything to say to that. He couldn't deny such an act.

"You did well, Leo. Now they will be distracted, so we can make our move," Gideon said with a smile.

Future Leo glared at his old friend. "I don't take any pleasure in this, Gideon. I ripped my son's heart out and shattered my brother-in-law's life. There's nothing to celebrate there."

"Wait, son? My other son? Did he come back with you or something?" Leo asked, curious about his future son.

Future Leo and Gideon both ignored him. "I understand, Leo, but it was the right thing. It was for the Greater Good."

"Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it," Future Leo said.

"What we must do now is go after the boy. With the sisters distracted, it is the perfect time," Gideon said.

"You stay the hell away from my son!" Leo screamed.

Again he was ignored.

"It's nice on paper, but even if the sisters were distracted, which they're not, Wyatt will never allow us to touch him. The little brat repelled me with his shield when it even looked like I'd touch him," Future Leo said.

"Surely you can trick him," Gideon said.

Future Leo shook his head. "No. Even now, Wyatt has empathic abilities. He knows that I hate him. He knows I want him dead. He won't let me near him."

Gideon seemed to be in deep thought for a minute. "I can probably penetrate his shield, but it would take time."

"Time we don't have. My plan distracted Cole, but Piper is more determined than ever to protect Wyatt," Future Leo said.

"Wyatt is her son. Piper will always protect him no matter what?" Leo said from the crystal cage.

"Then we must find a way to stop the Charmed Ones from interfering," Gideon said.

"Are you talking about killing the sisters?" Future Leo asked. That was where he drew the line. There weren't a lot of things that were beneath him now, but killing his ex-wife and her sisters were one of them.

"No, of course not. I'm talking about dividing them. It's been done before. When their fighting becomes beyond that of just sisters. When they truly turn from each other. All we would have to do is turn one against the others," Gideon explained.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You'll never turn the sisters against each other. Their bond is unbreakable," Leo said.

"He's right," Future Leo told Gideon. The Charmed Ones' bond as witches and as sisters is fierce. It would take a lot to truly turn them against each other. But it's not impossible, especially with everything going on now. Paige is our best bet."

"Paige? I would've assumed Phoebe. After all, she's turned away from them before. When she chose to stick by Cole Turner when he was the Source," Gideon said.

"But she didn't really. Yes, she stuck by his side, but she didn't truly turn against her sisters. Deep down she was still loyal to him. No, Paige is our best bet. My guess is she already feels torn with what's going on," Future Leo said.

"Paige would never turn against her sisters. You're crazy if you think that," the other Leo said.

"Paige's loyalty will always be to her family first," Future Leo said. As much as Paige loved her sisters, she would choose Cole and her children first, even now.

"Her sisters are her family."

"I'm talking about her immediate family. Her husband, her children. They come first. She won't allow them to be destroyed by Wyatt" Future Leo said.

"And you're sure about that? You're sure that she'll choose a family that doesn't exist yet over the one she already has?" Gideon asked.

"Positive. I saw her face today. She was horrified just of the prospect of Wyatt doing that to her and her family," Future Leo said.

"Wait, _her _family. Are you saying that Cole and his kids are her family," Leo asked. His future self had never mentioned Cole's wife by name, but he figured that it was either Phoebe or some stranger. He never would've guessed Paige. They hated each other. Well, okay, Paige didn't seem to hate him now, but that was because she hadn't known it was him. In the past though, she hated his guts. It didn't make sense for her to marry him.

Gideon focused on the future version of Leo. "So exactly what do you intend to do to convince Paige to turn her back on her sisters."

"Tell her the truth. Wyatt did destroy her family, even if he didn't kill them all. He did murder her son and her sisters and he destroyed the lives of everyone who lived. All I need to do is play on her maternal instincts. She does have them, even now. She loves Wyatt, but she'll protect her family first."

"So you plan to bring her around to our side, which will cause a rift between her and her sisters. Then we can make our move on the boy," Gideon realized.

Future Leo nodded. "Maybe even with Paige and Cole's help." If he could get to Paige, Paige could probably get to Cole, especially after the lie about Paige and Paula. With both of them on their side, they could end this once and for all."

"No! She'd never do that," the other Leo said. Deep down though, he was worried. He had a child. He knew for a fact that if his child's life was at risk, he'd choose him first every time. There was a good chance Paige would feel the same way.

"You should go. The sooner this is done the better," Gideon said.

Future Leo nodded and orbed out.


	31. Chapter 31

Paige had been in the Underworld searching for Cole, as she assumed he would go there to inflict some massive damage on any unsuspecting demons, when she suddenly found herself on top of the Golden Gate Bridge with the future version of her brother-in-law standing right in front of her. "Leo, what the hell?! Why did you bring me here? I don't' know if you noticed, but I'm a little busy right now!"

"You really think you can help him? You think anything you say is going to make a difference?" Leo asked.

"I have to try," Paige said, repeating Piper's earlier statement. Her sister was right. She had to do something. She had to at least try to pull Cole out of this hole he was certain to be falling into.

Leo chuckled. "You know, I remember a time when you hated Cole. I figured that would last a bit longer. That's why I thought that if I told Phoebe the truth, you'd turn on him."

"And let me guess, he would be too distracted with us to realize who you really were and what you were planning," Paige said.

"Yes," Leo said matter-of-factly. "But I guess I miscalculated. I didn't think your bond would grow so strong so quickly. I should've known better. I should've known that without knowing his name, you would've fallen for him even faster than in the future," Leo said.

Paige shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "Why did you bring me here, Leo? What do you want?"

"You don't trust me," Leo said. It wasn't a question.

"Gee, I can't imagine why. Maybe because you came here to murder an innocent child. Your child might I add. That doesn't exactly breech trust," Paige said.

"Innocent. I don't see it that way. In fact, I'll be saving innocent children by ending that sociopath, including your own children," Leo said.

Paige flinched at the comment. She'd been trying really hard not to think about that, not that it was working. "Look, I don't have time for this. I need to find Cole before he does something he'll regret."

"And what exactly do you think you'll be able to do when you find him? You can't help Cole. Not this way anyway," Leo said.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this question, but how can I help him?" Paige asked.

"By eliminating the problem. You do that, all the pain goes away because it never happens in the first place," Leo said.

Paige shook her head in disbelief. "It's that easy for you? Just kill your son and everything's peachy?"

"Easy? You think this is easy for me? What you think I just woke up one day and said, 'he's evil, let's kill him'? You have no idea how much of a struggle it was for me to even accept that he was evil. I was an idiot. I wouldn't accept it. I had to watch a memory of him brutally torturing Chris before I could bring myself to accept the truth. And even then, I still loved him. Because like you said, he was my son. They say you're supposed to love your son no matter what," Leo said.

"You are," Paige told him.

"That's easy for you to say. Your children, when you have them, will be the epitome of good," Leo said.

"It doesn't matter. A parent's love is supposed to be unconditional," Paige said. She could understand a lot of people hating Wyatt, even her future self, but not Leo. He was Wyatt's father. He was supposed to love him no matter what.

"I tried. I loved and I believed in him for longer than any sane person would have. But there comes a time when you have to draw a line in the sand and say 'that's it. That's as far as I go'. Wyatt crossed that line. He murdered my daughter. I can't forgive him for that," Leo said sadly. Melinda's death had made difference for him. He accepted the truth about his first born after seeing what he did to Chris, but it wasn't until the death of his little girl that he started to actually hate the bastard.

Pity began to shine in Paige's eyes. She could see the pain in Leo's eyes and she felt for him. It was the same look she saw in Cole's eyes a few months ago and again just today. No one should feel that kind of pain. "I'm sorry, Leo."

Leo shook his head. "No, don't feel sorry for me. I should've figured out the truth long before I did and ended it then. A part of me knew. I just didn't want to accept it." A part of him had known since Gideon went after Wyatt during his timeline. He should've let the man kill him and be done with it. But no matter, he would finish it this time around and his family would be free of the bastard.

"I…I don't know what you want me to do, Leo. What do you want me to hate Wyatt? I can't do that," Paige said. It was getting harder and harder for her to look at Wyatt the way she used to, but she still loved him. He was still the nephew she'd helped raise for the last year.

"You will. The day will unfortunately come where you're not able to feel anything else for him. Just like me," Leo said. In the future, Paige did hate Wyatt just as much as he did. The only difference was that she trusted Cole and Chris' instincts much more than his. She wasn't completely convinced Wyatt could be saved, but she trusted their judgment on the matter.

Paige shuttered at the thought. Mostly because she knew he was right. Even without Piper telling her that she would know it. She wouldn't be able to love somebody after they killed her children, not even Wyatt. "I still don't know what you want me to do."

"I want you to do what has to be done," Leo said simply.

"You mean kill my nephew. Take the life of my sister's son. I can't do that."

Leo took a picture out of his pocket and held it up for Paige. "Not even for them."

Paige stared at the picture in awe. In it, she and Cole were sitting with a young boy around ten or eleven in between them and a little girl about eight or nine on Cole's lap. They looked Happy. Happier than she ever could've imagined herself being.

"This is your family, Paige. Your husband and your children. Then the nephew you love so much took it all away. He killed your son. This little boy right here," Leo said as he pointed to the boy in the picture.

Paige felt her hands begin to shake. She'd known these children existed before and she knew what happened to them, but somehow it became so much more real when there was a photo of them right in front of her.

"The only thing that saved your daughter and mine that night is that they were with you getting Chris' birthday cake. Everyone else, aside from Cole, Chris, and Phoebe's husband were killed. Piper died in Chris' arms. Ben died before Cole even regained consciousness. I can't even begin to describe the agony the two of you felt from his death," Leo said sadly.

Paige somehow managed to keep herself from crying and looked at Leo with steel eyes. "Where were you? Where was I? Why didn't we do anything?!"

"It's not your fault. Wyatt somehow managed to block their calls from you," Leo said. He wished the same could be said for him, but he heard every one of his youngest son's cries. He just didn't answer them because he didn't think it was important. There was nothing, aside from stopping Gideon the first time, that he regretted more.

Paige leaned against one of the rails of the bridge as it all really started to hit her. This was her family and it going to be taken away from her. Taken away by her own nephew. The child she loved more than anybody at the moment was going to rip apart her family. How could she let that happen?

"Do you understand now, Paige? Something has to be done. You have to draw your line, just like I did. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't wait for your children to be taken away from you before you decide to do something," Leo begged.

"Get out of here," Paige said. She needed to think, and for that, she needed to be alone.

Leo sighed. He knew now that he'd done everything he could. All he could do was hope that Paige had listened. "Okay, but take this."

Paige looked over to see that he was holding the picture out for her. She immediately took it from him.

"Make the right decision, Paige. For them," Leo said before orbing out.

Paige looked at the picture and thought about Leo's last words. The right decision. The problem was she didn't know what the right decision was. Could any decision that involved killing a baby be right? Forget for a minute that he was her nephew. He was a little boy. But then again, so was her son. Wasn't his life worth saving?

"Oh God!" Paige exclaimed. She couldn't believe she was even thinking about this. Wyatt was her nephew. He was her sister's child. How could she even consider taking his life?

Leo's words began to replay I her head. _'There comes a time when you have to draw a line in the sand.' _

A lot of what Leo had said had creeped Paige out, but that didn't make it any less true. Those words made sense to Paige. There did need to be a line that if you crossed it, there were consequences. The problem was that baby Wyatt had not crossed that line. He hadn't done anything. The question was could she wait for him to?

Paige looked at the photo of her family again. They didn't exist in her world yet, but somehow they still mattered to her. She wanted them. She wanted all of them, even Cole. And the idea that someone could take them from her scared her more than anything ever had. She had to save them. She had to find some way to preserve her family for the future. God help her, she had to do it even if it was at Wyatt's expense.


	32. Chapter 32

Piper walked into the attic with Wyatt to find Phoebe looking through the book and Chris staring out the window behind her. "Anything?" she asked before placing Wyatt in his playpen.

"No, nothing. I've searched this book like three times. I'm still not even remotely sure of what demon we could be looking for," Phoebe said.

"I told you you were wasting your time. I've practically memorized that book. There's nothing," Chris said without even looking at them.

"No word from Paige or Cole?" Piper asked.

"No. I don't know why you sent her after him anyway. Or why she even went," Phoebe said.

Chris finally turned around. "I think we can officially count Cole out. He's not going to be up for protecting Wyatt, not after this."

Piper sighed. She'd been thinking along the same lines. Cole had made it clear a long time ago that he would protect his family first. Yes, he'd wanted to save Wyatt if he could, but he would go the other route if he felt he had to. Piper knew that there was a very good chance he was at that point now. The time for helping Cole was over. Now she was going to have to fight him.

"Oh, please, he's done worse," Phoebe said.

"No, he hasn't. You didn't see Wyatt, Pheebs. You have no idea how far off the reservation he's gone. He's worse than Cole, Belthazor, even the Source," Piper said.

"Are you saying you agree with him?" Phoebe asked in disbelief. She had a hard time believing that her sister would ever agree with someone who wanted her child dead.

Piper glared at her sister. "Of course not! No one is laying a hand on my son! I will do whatever I have to do to protect him. That's why I can understand why Cole would come after Wyatt. It the situation was reversed, I don't know what I'd do. I will fight Cole for the same reason Cole may fight me to get to Wyatt. To protect my child."

"I'll fight with you," Chris said. He loved his uncle and his cousins, but he could never fight on the side that would end with his brother dead. Cole knew that and understood that.

"We have the Power of Three plus Chris. He won't stand a chance against us," Phoebe said. As long as Cole wasn't invincible, which she didn't think he was because he seemed to have different powers this time, they would be able to stop him.

Just then orbs filled the room until Paige materialized.

"Did you find him?" Piper asked.

"No," Paige said simply.

"It's just as well. Chris thinks Cole may be getting ready to fight us," Phoebe said.

"I didn't say that. I just said he may not side with us anymore. His grief is big and he's going to do what he has to do to fix it," Chris said.

"Same thing. We need to be ready for him. We have to start making potions. Chris, you have to tell us what he is now and how to vanquish him so we can plan accordingly," Phoebe said.

"I'm not helping you kill him," Chris said as though it were absolutely ridiculous.

"But you just said…"

"I said that I'd fight to protect Wyatt. I didn't say I'd help you murder the closest thing I had to a father!" Chris exclaimed.

"No one is touching Cole!" Paige said sharply, causing all of them to turn and stare at her. "He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Paige, he wants Wyatt dead," Phoebe said. She just couldn't believe her sister was even defending Cole. She hated him. She was the first one to come up with ways to vanquish him.

"So does Leo and I don't hear any talk about vanquishing him," Paige retorted.

"Paige, you can bet I won't hesitate to stop Leo if he comes after Wyatt either," Piper said. She didn't care who it was. She would protect her child at all costs. She would fight anyone who got in her way, even her own sisters whom she loved. "But you're right. I don't want Cole dead either. I wanna stop him if he comes after Wyatt, but I don't want to kill him." She decided not to add that she would if she had to. She knew Paige did not want to hear that right now.

"I don't know how any of you think we're going to be able to avoid it. Cole is not going to back down. He's going to go farther and farther over the line until we have no choice but to kill him," Phoebe said. She knew her ex really well. He was lethal and not just because of his powers. It was because he was determined and ruthless when it came to what he wanted.

"If you wanna get to Cole, you're gonna have to go through me," Paige said firmly. Cole had already lost everything. She wasn't going to let him lose his life too, even if it was something he just might want. "What's happened is not Cole's fault. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Paige, I have to protect my son. I will not let anyone hurt him," Piper said.

"You have to protect him. Let me ask you something, Piper. What would you do if you were in Cole's position? What would you do if Ben had murdered your children in the future?" Paige asked. She needed to know. Somehow she just needed someone to tell her that she wasn't completely evil for what she was thinking about doing.

"I…I don't know," Piper said. She honestly didn't know what she'd do. She'd like to say that she wouldn't consider taking the life of her sister's child, but she wasn't sure she could. If her kids were on the line, she'd do just about anything.

"Would you consider killing him?" Paige asked.

Chris slowly made his way towards Wyatt. He did not like the way his aunt asked that question or the look in her eyes. He got the feeling this was going to get very bad very quickly.

"I don't know. Maybe. I'd do whatever it took to protect my kids," Piper said.

Paige turned to look at Wyatt. "Yeah, I can understand that."

Chris practically jumped in front of Wyatt. "Aunt Paige, don't."

"What choice do I have? Your mom's right. A mother has to do what is necessary to protect her children," Paige said.

Piper's eyes widened and she too ran in front of her son. "Okay, Paige, I think you need to calm down."

"I'm perfectly calm, Piper. Maybe more calm than I should be under the circumstances," Paige said. She was strangely calm. She was scared and the just the idea of doing this made her want to kill herself instead, but she was also resigned. She had to protect her family, just like Piper did.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Phoebe asked. Her sisters and nephew were acting really weird. Piper and Chris were regarding Paige like a possible enemy and the way Paige was looking at them seriously scared her. It was the same look she gave Cole right before she vanquished him the first time. It was that of love, but also resignation and what she had to do.

"Don't do this, Paige. I will fight you," Piper said. She loved her sister very much and just like with Cole, she understood what must be going through her head, but Wyatt was her son and she had to protect him.

"I know," Paige said simply.

"It doesn't have to be like this," Piper said pleadingly. She didn't want this. She wanted to find some way that didn't involve them being on separate sides. There had to be a way for that.

"I think it does." Paige said sadly.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cole made his way through Magic School to Gideon's office. After obliterating half the Underworld, he'd finally got his head screwed on straight. Well, enough that he was thinking semi normally again.

He'd gone to Magic School because he figured that Leo would seek out Gideon for help. And Cole really needed to talk to Leo. He needed to know what exactly happened in the future while he was gone, so he could decide whether or not to change his course of action.

Cole opened the door to Gideon's office and walked inside. "Leo?"

The present version of Leo was sitting on the floor of the crystal cage in misery. He practically jumped up when he heard his name. Someone had finally found him. "Cole. Cole, thank God. You gotta get me out of here."

"Leo, you here?" Cole asked as he looked around.

Leo groaned when he realized Cole couldn't see him. He hadn't found him. He was just looking for him. "Cole, I'm right here! Look at me."

"Leo, if you're here somewhere, come out. I just wanna talk," Cole said.

"Cole, come on, man. I'm right in front of you!" Leo yelled as loudly as he could.

Cole continued to scan the room. He stopped when he noticed a crystal cage set up in the middle of the room. That was very strange. Why would Gideon set up a cage when he didn't have anyone trapped?

"Cole, come on!" Leo yelled as he stepped toward the edge of the cage without thinking. He was immediately zapped and fell backwards.

Cole saw the cage suddenly flare with electricity, but he didn't know why. Usually that would only happen if something triggered it, like the thing trapped tried to get away, but there wasn't anyone.

Cole went over and bent down by one of the crystals. "I hope I don't regret this." He picked up the crystal and before his eyes, Leo appeared on the ground. He went to him immediately. "Leo! Leo, you okay."

Leo groaned in pain. "Cole? You can see me now?"

"Yeah. You okay?" Cole asked.

Leo immediately scrambled to get up. He had to get to Piper and Wyatt fast.

"Whoa! Easy, man," Cole said before helping him up. "How long have you been trapped here?"

"I don't know. I'd say almost a week. It was Gideon and… well, me. The other me. He wanted to take my place so he could go after Wyatt," Leo said.

"Yeah, I know," Cole said.

"No, you don't know! He's crazy, man. He's trying to kill my son and he doesn't care who hurts in the process. Cole, he lied to you," Leo said.

"Whoa, slow down. What are you talking about?" Cole asked.

"Everything he told you at the Manor about your family, it was all a lie," Leo said.

Cole stiffened at the mention of his family. "Leo, if you're just saying that to protect Wyatt from me…"

"No, it's the truth! He told you that to get you out of the way. He admitted it," Leo said.

Cole felt blind, hot rage build up inside of him. He's accused Leo of lying, but deep down, he never actually believed it. It was just his way of accepting the truth. He didn't believe Leo was really capable of that kind of evilness. Because that's what it was. It was evil. There was no worse pain than the death of a child. He'd felt that once and so had Leo. For the man to willingly put him through that again, knowing exactly what it would do to him… He was going to kill him.

"Cole, it's all true and it gets worse," Leo said.

"Worse? The son of a bitch let me believe my family was dead! How does it get worse than that?" Cole asked.

"Gideon and my future self are planning on breaking up the Power of Three. They think that if it's broken, they can go after Wyatt," Leo said.

"No one can break up the Power of Three. Believe me, I tried," Cole said. When he first went after the Charmed Ones, he'd tried several times to destroy them.

"But you did once, remember? You used another demon to bring out issues between them and they used their powers against each other," Leo reminded him.

"Yeah, but it didn't last. They made up and got them back that same night. They've never allowed that to happen since, nor would they," Cole said. The sisters had been very careful not to let something like that big come between them again. Gideon and Leo wouldn't be able to get to them that way.

"One Charmed son never killed another before," Leo said.

Cole felt sick as he began to realize what Leo was saying. They were using his family to try to get Paige to turn on Wyatt. If that happened, there would be a rift between Piper and Paige. Both were headstrong women who would do anything for their children. Paige would do what she had to to protect their children, even if they didn't exist yet, and Piper would do the same for Wyatt and Chris. "Oh my God," he said before shimmering out.

Leo immediately orbed out after him.


	33. Chapter 33

It was eerily quiet as Piper and Paige stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move and neither really wanting to fight the other.

After a few minutes, Piper spoke again. "You don't want to do this, Paige."

"No, I don't," Paige admitted. She didn't want to do it. The very idea of it made her sick. She loved Piper and she loved Wyatt. But what choice did she really have. Even if they didn't exist yet, she was Ben and Paula's mother. She had to protect them at all costs, even if it meant hurting her nephew.

"Then don't. Just slow down and we can talk about this," Piper said as calmly as she could.

"I can't. I'm sorry. I have to protect my family just as you have to protect yours," Paige said as she began to wordlessly orb a dagger to her.

Chris immediately grabbed Wyatt and backed up as far as he could with him while Piper brought her hands up as she would to blow someone up.

Just then Cole shimmered in and Leo orbed in. "No!" Cole yelled before pulling his wife to the other side of the room.

Piper immediately went over to her sons and took Wyatt from Chris.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked Cole as if he was crazy.

"Please tell me the two of you did not use your powers against each other," Leo pleaded. If they had, it was all over. Their powers would be gone and they would be vulnerable.

"No, not yet. We were about to though," Piper said.

"Okay, someone please tell me what the hell is going on," Phoebe said. She felt like she was the only one in the room that didn't know anything about was going on. All she really knew was that the whole scene had been very freaky.

"Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you were doing? If he had killed him, you wouldn't have been able to take it back. It would've ate you up inside for the rest of your life," Cole told Paige.

"You were going to do it," Paige said.

"Only if I had to, and it's not the same. I don't love him. I didn't spend the last year helping to raise him. Yeah, it would've stayed with me, but I could've lived with it more than you could," Cole said.

"I didn't want to, but I didn't see any other choice. Wyatt destroyed our family. He killed his own sister and he tortured Chris. I felt I had no choice," Paige said.

"Wait a second. Were you going to kill Wyatt?" Phoebe asked in shock and horror.

Piper glared at her younger sister. "Exactly what did you think was going on?"

"I didn't know. None of it made sense. I didn't know what was going with you guys. Paige, you wouldn't really have done it, would you? You wouldn't have killed our nephew," Phoebe said. She couldn't believe that. Paige loved Wyatt just as much as the rest of them. She couldn't hurt him.

Paige looked away. She already felt guilty for even thinking about. She hated what she had decided to do. She knew Cole was right about the fact that she would hate herself. She already hated herself for considering it. And now that the conversation was over and she was able to think more about what she tried to do, she felt even worse. But she couldn't be completely sorry. Just like Piper, it was her job as a mother to protect her children.

Cole immediately recognized the look of guilt on his future wife's face. "It's okay. It's not your fault. Leo preyed on your fears. He knew that he got to you at least a little when he made his little announcement this morning and he played on that."

Piper narrowed her eyes at Leo. "What did you do?"

Leo put up his hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything. I've been locked in a crystal cage in Gideon's office for the last week."

"He's telling the truth. This is your Leo. I found him in Gideon's office when I went looking for my Leo," Cole explained.

"Wait, why, Gideon's office? What does he have to do with this?" Chris asked.

"They're working together. Gideon wants Wyatt dead too. He's been plotting to kill him," Leo said through gritted teeth. It pissed him off to no end that a trusted friend had tried to murder his son.

"And what, they thought they'd get Paige to do it for them? Did they really think I wouldn't stop her?" Piper asked.

"Actually, they were counting on it," Leo said. "They knew Paige wouldn't get to kill Wyatt tonight. They were trying to break up the Power of Three."

"Well, how the hell were they going to do that?" Paige asked.

Realization crossed Phoebe's face. "By getting the two of you to use your powers against each other."

"You see, your powers are tied to the bond you share. By using your powers against each other, you would've severed it and lost those powers," Cole said.

"Which would've left Wyatt unprotected by us. They could've come after him," Piper finished as she too realized the plan.

"Wait, so are Paige and Paula really dead in the future?" Chris asked. There was now reason to believe that his father could've lied. This could've been part of his plan to drive Paige and Cole to the breaking point.

"No. That was a lie Leo spun to distract me and then later to get to Paige," Cole said through gritted teeth. He was going to pay Leo back in spades for that one. The son of a bitch nearly destroyed him with that.

"I don't get it. How would that make Paige want Wyatt dead?" Phoebe asked. Yes, it was horrible what Wyatt did to Paige in the future, but she had a hard time believing that even her death could make her turn on Wyatt.

"I never wanted Wyatt dead. I just wanted my family safe," Paige said.

Cole put an arm around Paige to comfort her.

Phoebe looked between the two in confusion and then thought about what they'd just said. Cole had said that it was Leo's lie that drove Paige to the breaking point and Paige said that she was had wanted to protect her family as though the two were connected. And then there was the way the two of them were right now. The way they were was like the way Piper used to be with Leo. "Oh my God!"

"Phoebe, not now," Piper said. She knew her sister had figured it out, but they didn't have time to deal with her issues. They had a child to protect.

Phoebe ignored her and glared daggers at Cole. "My sister? Are you kidding me?! And you, Paige. How could you?"

"Oh, back off! Don't give us that crap. We've been done a long time, even in this time. You don't love me. You don't even like me. And at this point with this version of you, the feeling is mutual. So just get off your high horse!" Cole said angrily.

"Okay, enough, both of you! We've got real problems here. We've got two threats after my son!" Piper said.

"Actually, I think it might just be one," Leo said.

"What do you mean?" Cole asked confused.

"I had a lot of time to think while I was in that cage. I kept thinking about Wyatt and what it would do to him to have his own father want to kill him. Even if he didn't succeed, it would stick with Wyatt for a long time, possibly forever. And then started thinking, what if that is what happens? What if Wyatt just couldn't get passed someone he trusted trying to kill him?" Leo asked. Like he said, he had a long time to think about it. It made sense. Children were very susceptible and fragile at this age. It could be that Wyatt just couldn't deal with something that happened to him.

"You think it was the trauma?" Chris asked.

"Wait, but Leo didn't come back in time the first time around," Paige said.

"But it's the same principle. We all know Gideon tried to kill Wyatt in both timelines. Gideon is an Elder, on the side of good. He's supposed to protect Wyatt, not hurt him," Cole said.

"And because of that, Wyatt lost faith in good. Oh my God," Chris said in disbelief. He'd never considered something like this. His brother was just as much a victim as the rest of them. He had turned because someone he trusted had done something terrible to him.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Piper said furiously.

"Okay, so what now? We need a plan," Phoebe said.

Cole smirked. "I've got an idea."


	34. Chapter 34

"No! No way!" Piper yelled after listening to Cole's plan.

"No way in hell," Leo agreed.

"You've lost your mind. Again!" Phoebe said.

Cole ignored everyone, but Piper. "Piper, I need you to trust me."

Phoebe snorted. 'That's laughable. Why would any of us trust you?"

Cole glared at his ex-wife. "I wasn't talking to you!"

"Cole, you know I trust you. But what you're suggesting…"

"Is a lot. I know that. I know that I'm asking you to take a big leap of faith with me here, but I don't see any other option. We need the element of surprise. Leo will never see it coming because he won't see it as something you would do," Cole said. He didn't love his idea anymore than Piper did, but he had to find a way to outsmart his version of Leo and the best way to do that was to work with a plan he wouldn't see coming.

"Well, he's right,'' Piper said.

"Can't you do this without Wyatt?" Chris asked.

"No. I can't drive it home without him," Cole said.

"Why not? You're a god liar," Phoebe said a bit bitterly.

"Yes, I am," Cole said without a trace of remorse in his voice. He had both been there and done that. "But Leo's not completely stupid. He knows me. He knows I'm a good liar just like you do. But he knows Piper too and he knows she wouldn't agree to put Wyatt in any kind of danger."

"But you're asking me to do just that," Piper said.

Cole turned back to her. "No, he won't be in danger. I won't let anything happen to him."

"You can't promise that he'll be safe. Even if we were to trust that you have his best interests in mind, something could go wrong," Leo said. He had so many problems with this he didn't even know where to start.

Cole sighed. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Yeah. We could go to the Elders and tell them what's going on," Leo said.

Chris scoffed at the very idea of it. "The Elders are idiots. They're not going to do anything about Gideon. He's one of them."

"He's right, Leo. And in any event, have you ever considered the possibility that a lot of them agree with Gideon?" Cole asked.

"He's got a point," Phoebe said. The very idea of agreeing with Cole made her nauseous, but he was right. The Elders couldn't be trusted. The fact that two Elders wanted Wyatt dead was proof of that.

"So our only option is to risk our son's life to save it," Leo commented unhappily.

"No. No, I can't do this. I won't," Piper said firmly.

"I don't think we have a choice. I know you're scared, Mom, but this is the only option," Chris said.

"Maybe they're right. Maybe this is… Wait, what?" Leo asked abruptly as he turned to Chris in shock. It hadn't computed at first, but Chris had just called Piper 'Mom'.

"What?" Chris asked in confusion.

"You just called her 'Mom'," Leo said. Chris couldn't be theirs, could he? No sooner than he asked that question did the realization of Chris' name hit him. Chris. His father's name. They'd named Chris after his father.

"So?" Chris asked slowly. It wasn't like Leo didn't already know who he was. Piper had told him weeks ago. And weeks ago, Leo was locked in Gideon's office, he realized. This wasn't the Leo she'd told. "Oh, crap."

"Y…you're our son. Oh, God," Leo said as he remembered every hateful thing he'd said and done to Chris. He physically attacked him more than once. Hell, he threated to have his soul recycled. He threatened the life of his own son. What kind of person, what kind of father, did that?

Paige could tell what Leo was thinking and decided to nip it all in the bud before this all turned into one big angsty moment. "Okay, we don't have time for this. Leo, yes, Chris is your son. Yes, you were an ass, but beat yourself up over it another time. The future of our entire family and countless others hangs in the balance."

"But I… I…" Leo stammered, unsure of what to say.

"Paige is right, we need to stay focused," Cole said before turning back to Piper. "Piper, I know you're scared, but we have no choice."

"Would you do this if you were in my position?" Piper shot at him.

"I am, Piper. The safety of my son is just as much at risk as the safety of yours. If I can't save Wyatt, I can't save Ben. Trust me, this is just as much a risk for me as it is for you," Cole said.

Piper looked down at Wyatt, who was now in his playpen. Could she really do this? Could she go through with a plan that would place him in danger? Then again, wasn't he already in danger? Gideon and Leo were coming for him no matter what. If she didn't do something, they would get him and she couldn't allow that to happen. "Okay."

Cole turned to Paige. "You know what to do."

Paige nodded and orbed out.

Cole looked at Leo. "For this to work, you can't be there at all. We need to know who we're fighting and that won't happen if there are two of you."

"I know," Leo said. He didn't like it, not one bit, but he knew he couldn't be a part of this fight. He would just have to trust the others to keep Wyatt safe.

"Alright, if we're gonna do this, we need to be prepared. We need fire power. I know you're powerful, Cole, but you're gonna be alone with Wyatt for at least a little bit and I'm not risking that with just your powers. So we get potions. I'll work on that."

"I'll help you," Chris said.

"Phoebe, I want you to see if you can come up with some kind of spell or something that will protect Wyatt," Piper said.

"Piper, that's impossib…" Phoebe trailed off when she saw the death glare. "I'll get right on that."

"I'm gonna help you and Chris. I gotta do something," Leo said.

Piper nodded. "Cole, will you stay here with Wyatt? I don't want him alone right now."

"Yeah, of course. Go," Cole said.

Piper immediately left the room, followed by Leo and Chris.


	35. Chapter 35

Paige waited on top of the Golden Gate Bridge for Leo. She'd already called him. Now she just had to wait for him to show and try not to kill him for the way he manipulated her and the way he hurt Cole and Chris. She didn't have long to wait.

Before long, Leo orbed in front of Paige. "Hey. I trust you've thought about what I said."

"I tried to kill Wyatt," Paige said simply.

"You did?" Leo asked, feigning surprised and attempting to hide his happiness that she'd fallen for his plan.

"Yeah. I hated myself for it, but I had to protect my family," Paige said honestly

"Good for you," Leo said.

"It didn't work. Piper, Phoebe, and Chris were there. I'm sure you can imagine that Piper tried to stop me. It got ugly. We used our powers against each other and we lost them," Paige lied.

"Oh, God. I never even thought about that," Leo lied through his teeth.

Paige had to fight the urge to slug Leo over and over again. The hell he never thought about it. He counted on it. "Anyway, I can still orb, but my witch powers are gone."

"But your sisters' powers are too, and since Chris' powers come from Piper and he hasn't been born with them yet, his will be gone too. His witch powers anyway. So I'll be able to go after him.

"You don't have to. I went to Cole after my first attempt failed. I convinced him that Wyatt has to go," Paige said.

It took everything Leo had not to smile. This was exactly what he wanted. He wanted Cole on his side so he didn't have to worry about the man trying to stop him. "That's great. With Cole on our side, we can't lose."

"Look, even without their powers, my sisters can still be dangerous. They are still technically witches after all. So Cole's gonna convince Piper that Wyatt will be safer with him since he does have powers. She trusts him, so it should work," Paige said.

"Okay. Then bring him back to Magic School so we can take care of it," Leo said.

"No. There are too many people there who will try to get involved. We're gonna take him to the penthouse. You know, Cole and Phoebe's old place? It's still deserted. I don't think anyone will think to look there. We'll go there and then end the threat to the future once and for all," Paige said truthfully. Oh, they were gonna end the threat alright, but that wasn't Wyatt. It was the son of a bitch in front of her and his mentor.

"Yeah, that's probably a better idea. Have Cole put up some wards to keep Wyatt from orbing out. Call me when you get him there. You're gonna need some help," Leo said before orbing out.

Paige glared at the spot Leo had just left. "Oh, don't worry. You will definitely be there."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cole leaned over Wyatt's playpen and watched Wyatt play. For the first time since he got to the past, he was able to look at the boy with something other than hatred. Maybe it was because he now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that what happened in the future wasn't really Wyatt's doing. Gideon was responsible. This little boy in front of him was truly innocent.

Wyatt suddenly reached up and held out a toy car for Cole.

"For me? Thanks, pal," Cole said as he took the toy.

"Unc!" Wyatt exclaimed.

Cole knew exactly what Wyatt was trying to say and for the first time in a very long time, he saw the young boy he used to love. The boy he watched grow up. "Yeah, buddy. I'm your uncle."

"He likes you."

Cole turned to find Phoebe staring at them. He'd almost forgotten she was there.

"You hate him and he likes you. He trusts you," Phoebe said. It was hard for her to believe because Cole was a demon. Wyatt should have a natural distrust of him.

"He's an empath. He feels that even though I haven't felt much except resentment and contempt for him that I want to protect him," Cole said. He knew that Wyatt felt his emotions. While Cole did take an empath blocking potion, it wouldn't work for someone as powerful as Wyatt. He only really took it to keep Phoebe out.

"He's an empath?" Phoebe asked in shock. He had no idea that Wyatt had her power. It made her proud that he'd inherited something from her.

"Didn't you ever wonder how he's able to sense when someone's good or evil? How he knew that Future Leo was not the father he was used to?" Cole asked as he stood up.

"I never really thought about it much. I guess you're right. But he didn't trust Chris either. Why would that be if he's an empath?" Phoebe wondered.

"Because Piper didn't trust him. Wyatt may be a very powerful witch, but he's still a child. He trusts his parents' instincts more than his own," Cole explained.

"Wow. Are you sure you weren't the psych student?" Phoebe joked.

Cole chuckled. "No. Just a father."

"Right. To my sister's children," Phoebe commented.

Cole sighed. "Come on, Phoebe, let's not fight. We were getting along so well." For a second there, it was almost like he was talking to his Phoebe. The woman he'd made amends with and who had become like a sister to him.

"Can I ask you a question?" Phoebe asked.

"Something tells me you're going to ask whether I want you to or not," Cole said.

"Did you ever love me?" Phoebe asked.

Cole sighed. "You know, I didn't understand why you asked me that question the first time around and I don't understand it now. What does it matter now? You don't love me now, so why does it matter?"

"It matters," Phoebe said. She couldn't really say why it mattered either, but it did.

"I see Excalibur in the corner, so that whole Lady of the Lake thing with Piper happened, right?" Cole asked.

Phoebe nodded slowly, not really understanding what that had to do with anything.

"Well, as harsh as it may sound, I think that's what you were for me. You were what I needed to get to where I was supposed to be," Cole said.

"So you didn't love me," Phoebe said sadly. She wasn't sure why, but that did hurt a bit.

"I wouldn't say that. I loved you and a part of me always will. But not the way I should've. Not the way a man is supposed to love someone. And you didn't love me the way a woman is supposed to love someone either. To you, I was someone you'd always wanted. This perfect prince from one of those fairytales," Cole said.

"That's not fair," Phoebe said.

"It's true. You wanted to mold me into the perfect guy. The problem is, I'm not. I'm not perfect. I wouldn't be perfect even if I was mortal. But I'm not mortal. You could never accept that," Cole said.

"You wanted to be human just as much as I wanted you to be," Phoebe argued.

"No. I wanted it because you did. You were the first person I ever loved. Pretty much the first person I ever felt anything for. You made me feel human and I didn't want to lose that. So little by little, love turned into obsession. I couldn't live without you," Cole said.

"So I guess it was different with Paige.

"Yes. I could live without Paige. It would rip my heart out, but I could do it. And that's what love is. As much as I love her, it shouldn't be so much that I have nothing left outside of her," Cole explained.

Just then Paige orbed in. ""Hey, we're good," she said. She then got a look at the way her sister and future husband were looking at each other. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No. I think we're finally done," Cole said as he looked at Phoebe for another minute. She looked back at him and it seemed that they both came to an understanding.

"Okay, potions are done," Piper said as she, Leo, and Chris came into the room.

"Great. We're ready too. Leo went for it," Paige said.

"Phoebe? Spell?" Piper asked.

"Um, we got a bit distracted," Phoebe said hesitantly.

"There's no protection spell that will work anyway, Piper," Cole said before Piper could blow up. "We will protect him. He'll be safe."

Piper looked at him for a minute and then went over to Wyatt. She immediately picked him up into her arms. "Hey, sweetie. Everything's gonna be okay."

Leo went over to them. "Mommy's right, little buddy. You just have to go with Aunt Paige and Uncle Cole for a little bit."

"But they're gonna keep you safe, okay?" Piper asked her son before narrowing her eyes at Cole. "You better keep him safe."

"I will, I promise," Cole said before holding out his arms for Wyatt.

Piper reluctantly walked over and handed Wyatt over.

Cole carefully took Wyatt into his arms and balanced him on his hip. He then put his other arm around Paige before shimmering out with them.


	36. Chapter 36

When they got to the penthouse, Cole placed Wyatt on the floor of the living room. "You stay right here, buddy."

"Maybe we shouldn't have brought him. I mean, couldn't we have done a spell and one of my sisters or Chris by glamoured?" Paige asked. That would've been much better, especially for Wyatt.

"No. Leo's not an idiot. Not completely anyway. I can't speak about Gideon, but Leo will sense for Wyatt. He'd know if it was a trick. You can camouflage a face, but not an aura. Believe me, I don't like it anymore than you do," Cole said.

"Right. You probably think I'm a flake right now. An hour ago I was willing to kill him and now I'm worried about him," Paige said.

"I don't think you're a flake. I think Leo messed just with your head. He just turned you around for a bit. This right here, the protectiveness for that boy, that's real," Cole said through gritted teeth. Leo screwing with Paige was a big part of the reason Cole was going to tear him apart. Messing with him was one thing, but everyone who knew him knew that he became that much more lethal when someone went after his family.

"So what now?" Paige asked.

"I'm going to block this place so that Leo and Gideon can't leave once they get here. Kind of like how I did with Phoebe when I kept her here so I could go after the Nexus," Cole explained.

"But then won't that keep my sisters and Chris from coming in to help?" Paige asked.

"No. It only works one way. They can come in. They just won't be able to leave until I take it down or until I'm gone," Cole said.

Paige glared at him. "Don't say that. You're not going to die."

"No, I don't mean die. I don't have any intention of dying. But once we change the future and those changes catch up, Chris and I will go back," Cole said.

"Wait, so you'll just disappear?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, probably. It'll take a few minutes, but it will happen," Cole said.

"So what'll happen to you? The future you came from will no longer exist," Paige said. Would Cole and Chris die or cease to exist because they changed the future? She wasn't sure she could live with that.

"Well, I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm guessing we'll merge with the changed versions of ourselves. We can't cease to exist because that would mean we never existed in the first place to come and change this future. Because we were a part of this piece of history, Chris, Leo, and I will exist within the newer versions of ourselves.

"Leo too?"

"Yeah. It may be on the wrong side, but he's influencing the future by being here. That makes him a part of the changes. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's worry about fixing the current future before worrying about what the new one will entail.

"Okay. You should probably put up that block now," Paige said.

Cole nodded and held his hands out in front of him. Seconds later, a flash of light came and went. He then went over to Wyatt and bent down to his level. "Hey, buddy. I need you to do me a favor, okay? Some bad people are going to be here soon. Don't put your shield up until I say. Don't worry, Aunt Paige and Uncle Cole will protect you."

"Why don't you want him to put his shield up?" Paige asked.

Cole stood back up. "I want them to think I got rid of it. It's the only way to convince Leo completely that I was able to take him. If Wyatt thought I really wanted to kill him, he'd put it up to stop me. Leo knows that."

"But what if they hurt him before you have a chance to tell him to put it up," Paige asked.

Cole chuckled. "You say that like that shield is his only means of protection. It's not, not by a long shot. He can protect himself without it if he needs to. But I don't plan for him to have to. Call them. It's time to do this."

Paige looked up towards the ceiling. "Leo!"

Future Leo orbed in with Gideon seconds later.

It took every fiber in Cole's being not to grab Leo by the throat and squeeze the life out of him. It wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt like hell, and boy did Cole wanna hurt him.

"Why's he here, Leo?" Paige asked, pretending not to be aware that Gideon was involved. She figured she could send the whole thing home by doing that.

"It's okay. He's on our side," Leo assured her.

"As much as an Elder is anyway," Cole said.

"I could say the same about a demon," Gideon countered with disgust in his voice.

"You're looking to kill a baby. I don't think you can claim superiority here," Cole retorted.

"This has to be done, Cole," Leo said.

"I'm well aware of what has to be done, Leo. But that doesn't mean I have to like it, and I certainly don't have to like those involved," Cole said as glowered at Gideon.

"Can we just get on with it?" Paige asked.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simply. That child is extremely powerful. It's why he's so dangerous. We must do this very carefully. First we must deal with his shield," Gideon said.

"We took it down already. How do you think we got him here" Cole said.

"Well, that's something. Can I assume he can't orb out too?" Leo asked.

"No one's orbing anywhere," Cole said honestly. No one was orbing out and that included the two jackasses in front of him.

"Good. So do you have a plan?" Leo asked.

"Oh, you bet I do," Cole said with a smirk before looking at the ceiling. "Now!"

Before Leo or Gideon even had the chance to respond, Chris orbed in with Piper and Phoebe.

Realizing he'd been tricked, Leo immediately made a move for Wyatt. He had a knife in his hand.

"Wyatt, shield!" Cole yelled.

Wyatt's shield went up just as Leo reached him, sending the man sailing across the room.

Piper glared at Gideon and blew him up.

Cole made a beeline for Leo. The others could handle Gideon. His priority was the son of a bitch that used the 'death' of his family members to exploit him and Paige. He was going to pay for that.

Cole grabbed Leo off the ground and slammed him against the wall.

Leo winced as his head hit the wall hard. "You played me."

"Yeah. Kind of like you tried to do to me. But at least I didn't tell you your family was dead to get it done," Cole said.

"If you don't let me what I came to do, they will be," Leo said.

Cole immediately slammed his fist into Leo's face and let him fall to the ground.

Leo groaned. "That thing needs to die."

"Just when I think your parenting skills can get no lower. You went from one extreme to another, Leo. You're still choosing one kid over the others. But, hey, at least you never tried to kill Chris and Melinda," Cole said sarcastically.

"I'm doing this for them," Leo said as he started to get up.

"Oh, yeah? What you're doing will destroy them. It'll destroy us all," Cole said before conjuring and throwing an energy ball at the Elder, sending through the glass doors on the other side of the room.

Meanwhile, the fight with the other and Gideon was even more fierce. Gideon had materialized after Piper blew him up for the second time and was sending lightning bolts her way.

Piper immediately ducked, causing the lightning to hit the wall.

With fury in his eyes, Chris sent Gideon across the room.

Gideon immediately got up. "You need to stop. I am trying to protect the future."

"You're going to destroy it," Phoebe said.

"Not if I can help it," Chris said. He then held out his hand and orbed a dark lighter bow and arrow to him. Unlike with his aunt's power, the things he called for didn't have to be in the same vicinity of him. He just had to have a clear picture of where it was in his mind.

Chris immediately shot the weapon and hit Gideon square in the chest.


	37. Chapter 37

Gideon fell to the ground in agony, the poison slowly making its way through his system. "Y…you've made a t…terrible mistake."

"No, you did," Piper said glaringly before going over to Wyatt and picking him up into her arms. "Hey sweetie. Everything's okay now. You're okay."

"Cole!" Paige said urgently before rushing out towards the patio. Chris and Phoebe followed her.

Cole had just landed a particularly hard punch to Leo's face, causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. He then conjured an energy ball and aimed it towards the Elder.

"Cole, don't!"

Cole turned to see Paige.

"Let it go, Cole. It's over," Paige said.

"He told me my family was dead!" Cole growled.

"I know, but it's over now. Gideon will be dead within the hour and you'll all be back in the future. You and Chris will be able to enjoy a beautiful future. Don't ruin it by taking revenge," Paige said.

"And it will be ruined, Uncle Cole. They won't let you come back if you do this. You know that," Chris said. If his uncle continued to attack an Elder when everyone was safe, they would make sure he never came back from the Void.

"Please," Paige said.

Cole sighed and let the energy ball go out. "Wyatt's okay?"

Paige nodded. "Piper's got him."

Cole immediately headed back into the house and went over to Piper. "He's okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks to you," Piper said.

"How long?" Paige asked Cole.

"How long for what?" Phoebe asked.

"Not long. About as long as it takes for the changes to catch up. Maybe a few minutes," Cole said.

"Before what?" Phoebe asked again.

"Before they get taken back to the future," Paige said sadly.

"Wait, you're just going to disappear?" Piper asked before going to Chris' side.

"We did what we came to do. Our destiny here played itself out. Once Magic has figured that out, it'll send us home," Cole said.

Piper threw her arms around Chris. "I don't want you to go."

Chris smiled and put his arms around his mother and brother. "It's okay, Mom. You'll be seeing me again real soon."

"How long will it be for us?" Paige asked Cole.

Cole chuckled. "You know I can't answer that. You're just going to have to wait. I love you. And you'll love me one day too."

"I know," Paige said. She did know, and not just because of future knowledge. She knew because she'd felt the connection to him long before she knew who he really was. "I guess there really is a fine line between love and hate.

Piper finally let go of Chris. She passed Wyatt over to Phoebe and walked over to Cole. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my baby."

"No, thank you. Thank you for trusting me enough to help us save him. It probably would've been a lot harder without your trust," Cole said.

Piper immediately hugged him. "When you do come back, you'll be welcomed into this family with open arms."

Cole pulled away after a minute. "Thanks. Make sure to tell Leo that he'd better be a better father this time or I'll be killing him the second I make it back to the future."

"Oh, you won't get the chance. He'll already be dead by then if that's the case," Piper said with a smirk.

Paige and Phoebe, meanwhile, were hugging Chris fiercely. "Okay, guys, I kinda need to breath."

"If you break him, I will kill you both," Piper warned.

Phoebe and Paige finally let go. "You make sure to take care of yourself, okay?" Paige asked.

Chris nodded. "I will."

Cole walked over to Chris. "Good luck. We'll see you all soon." With that, they both faded into nothing, as did Leo from the patio.

The three sisters just stood there in silence for a minute. Paige then went over to where Gideon was and bent down. Gideon continued to groan for a couple of minutes and then his body turned to ash. "I guess the poison works faster in Elders.

"Good riddance," Piper said as she took Wyatt back from Phoebe.

"I guess we should go home," Piper said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Paige said before taking her sisters' hands and orbing them all out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"So they just disappeared?" Leo asked sadly. They were all sitting around the living room. Piper had just explained to him what happened with Gideon and his future self, and what happened with everyone from the future once it was over. Needless to say, it saddened him. He never had the chance to tell Chris how sorry he was for the way he treated him.

"Yeah. And I know you didn't get to make things right with Chris, but you're going to be able to very soon, and you'll do it by being a better father to him this time around," Piper said.

"I will. I swear I will," Leo vowed. He was not going to let Chris down again. He was going to be the kind of father that all his kids deserved. He wouldn't fail any of them.

"You'd better. Because if you don't, Cole and I are going to be fighting over who gets to kill you first," Piper said.

"You should start now. Chris does still need to be conceived, doesn't he?" Paige asked.

"Paige!" Phoebe admonished.

"What, it's true," Paige said.

"Oh my God. She's right. Let's go, Piper said before getting up and pulling Leo with her towards the stairs.

"I… What?" Leo asked dumbly as he was pulled out of the room.

"I can't believe you did that," Phoebe said while laughing.

"Hey, I was just trying to help," Paige said.

Phoebe's smile faded after a minute. "We should probably talk."

Paige sighed. "Phoebe, I'm sorry it hurts you, but I'm not going to fight my feelings for Cole when the time comes." When she first found out, she'd intended to fight it just for Phoebe alone. But that changed when she saw that picture. She wanted that so badly. She didn't even know how much until then. She also realized then that she would never be able to fight what she was already feeling for Cole. It just wasn't possible.

"I know. Listen, Cole was right. I don't really have the right to be angry about this. I don't love Cole. In fact, a part of me still hates him. It may not be right, but it's how I feel. I think that will change though. I always knew Cole was meant to be in this family. I just never thought it would be through my sister," Phoebe said.

"So are we okay?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Phoebe said.

With that, the two sisters headed up the stairs with smiles on their faces. They both knew that their family would be changing very soon, but they were ready and willing when those changes finally happened.

THE END


End file.
